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OCTOBER. 



A TREATISE 



ON 



FOOD AND DIETETICS 



PHYSIOLOGICALLY AISTD TEEEAPEUTICALLY 

COKSIDEEED 



BT 



m^W: PAVY, M.D., F.R.S., 

FELLOW OF THE EOTAL COLLEGE OP PHYSICIANS ; PHYSICIAN TO, AND 
LECTUBEPv ON PHYSIOLOGY AT, GUY'S HOSPITAL, 



SECOND EDITION 



NEW YORK 

WILLIAM WOOD & COMPANY 

27 GpwEAt Jones Stkeet 

1881 



>* « > \ 



Uj 



Trow's 

PkINTING and liOOKBINDING COMPANY 

201-213 -f^'isi i2f/i Street 
New Yokk 



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WITI5PHAI,^VN 

MAY9_J919 




INSCRIBED 



III 



o 



TO 



THE EIGHT HONOEABLE 

LYON PLAYFAIR, M.R, C.B., F.R.S., 

AS A MARK OF 
APPRECIATION OF HIS SCIENTIFIC 

LABORS IlSr RELATIOJSr TO FOOD, 

AND 
IN ADMIRATION OF 

THE SERVICES HE IS NOW RENDERING 



IN HIS POLITICAL CAREER. 



PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



A LARGE impression having become exhausted in less than a year, 
1 feel myself warranted in concluding that I was not mistaken in judg- 
ing that a work of the kind produced was wanted, and at the same 
time am emboldened to cherish the idea that the labor bestowed has 
not proved fruitless in usefulness to others. 

The favorable reception accorded to the first edition has served 
alike as a source of gratification to me and a stimulus to renewed exer- 
tions to render the work worthy of approbation. Without presuming 
to think that there does not still exist much room for improvement, 
I hope that something in that direction has been effected by the re- 
vision which has been carried out. Wherever it has appeared to be 
required, the wording has been altered to render the meaning clearer ; 
various modifications (in part suggested by the valued hints of re- 
viewers) have been introduced ; and a considerable amount of new 
matter added — notably, attention may be directed to the preliminary 
part of the section on Wine as having undergone extensive amplifica- 
tion. 

I am glad to avail myself of the opportunity here afforded of ex- 
pressing my thanks to those who, since the appearance of this work, 
have supplied me with information drawn from scattered sources upon 
the subject of Food. 

35 Grosvenok Street, 

Grosvenor Square, London, 
June 1, 1875. 



PEEFACE TO THE FIEST EDITIOK 



In the Preface to the second edition of my work on " Digestion : 
its Disorders, and their Treatment," I mentioned that I liad originally 
intended to add a section on Food to the contents of that volume, 
bnt that for the reasons given I afterward determined to publish a 
separate treatise on the subject. Thus originated the present work, 
which, with the progress of time, and a large consumption of midnight 
oil, has grown to dimensions far exceeding those I had at first contem- 
plated. 

From the fact that the subject of Food is one of deep concern, 
both to the healthy and the sick — that the information which has 
been obtained during the last few years has completely revolutionized 
some of the cardinal scientific notions formerly entertained — and that 
no modern systematic treatise of the kind here presented exists in the 
English language, I have been encouraged to think that the task I 
have undertaken may not be deemed superfluous. Whatever the re- 
sults obtained, I have steadily striven, sparing no pains for the pur- 
pose, to render the work produced instructive and useful. 

On account of the change recently introduced in chemical notation, 
I have given both old and new formulse, placing the latter within 
square brackets after the former. 

35 GrROSVENOR STREET, 

Grosvekor Square, London", 
March, 1874. 



CONTENTS. 



TAGS 



InTEODTJCTOEY REMA.EKS 02T THE DYNAMIC RELATIONS OF FoOD. 1-6 

Matter and Force. 1. Correlation of the Physical Forces, 1, 2. Equiva- 
lent of heat in mechanical motion, 2. Force and energy distinction ex- 
plained, 2. Analogy between living matter and a machine, 3. Forms 
of force derived from the sun, 3, 4. Analogy between the animal system 
and a steam-engine, 4, 5. Life implies change, 5. Dormant vitality, 5. 



On the Origination of Food 7-13 

Power possessed by animals of forming one kind of organic compound 
out of another, 7, 8. -Influence of the solar force, 8, 9. Action of vege- 
table life. 9-11. Formation of organic compounds, 12, 13. Results of 
animal and vegetable life, 13, 

The Constituent Elements of Food, 14. 



Alimentaey Peinciples : theie Classification, Chemical 
Relations, Digestion, Assimilation, and Physiological 
Uses 15-88 

Distinction between alimentary principles and alimentary substances, 
15. Separation of food and drink not physiologically correct, 15, 16. 
Classification of food, 16, 17. 

The Nitrogenous Alimentary Principles, 17-56. 

Albuminous or proteine compounds — animal and vegetable proteine 
compounds, 17-19. Gelatinous principles, 19, 20. Digestion of the nitro- 
genous principles, 20-22. Action of pancreatic juice, 22-24. Production 
of albuminose, 24, 25. Uses of nitrogenous matter, 25. Its relation to 
force-production, 26, 27. Experiments on the elimination of nitrogen, 
27-39. Resume on nitrogenous food and muscular action, 39, 40. Heat- 
production, 40, 41. Varied amounts of urea excreted on vegetable and 
animal diets, 41. Metamorphosis of nitrogenous food, 42-49. Force 
value of nitrogenous food, 49-52. Nitrogenous matter as a source of fat, 
53-54. Alimentary value of gelatinous principles, 54, 55. 



X CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The Non-Niteogenous Alimentary Pkinciples, 56-67. 

Hydrocarbons, or fats, 56-58. Uses of fat, 58, 59. Fat as a heat-pro- 
ducing agent, 60. Oxidizable capacity of fat, 60, 61. Fat in relation to 
muscular force-production, 61-65. Actual force-value of fat, 65-67. 

The CARBonYDRATES, 67-82. 

Starch, 67-69. Sugars, 69-71. Gum, 71, 72. Dextrine, 72. Cellu- 
lose, 72. Lignine, 72. Lactic acid, 73. Assimilation and utilization of 
the carbohydrates, 73-75. Their destination, 75, 76. Power of animals 
to form fat, 76. Production of foie gras, 77, 78. Conversion of the 
carbohydrates into fat, 78-80. Ultimate use of the carbohydrates, 81, 
82. Ternary principles not carbohydrates : Pectine, vegetable acids, al- 
cohol, 82-86. 

The Inorganic Alimentary Principles, 86-88. 
Water, 86. Saline matter, 86-88. 

Alimentary Substances 89-269 

Animal Alimentary Substances, 89-143. 

Their classification, 89, 90. Varieties of meat, 89-97. Unwholesome 
meat, 97-103. Poultry, game, and wild-fowl, 103-105. Fish, J 05-110. 
Sheil-fish, 110-113. Eggs, 113-115. Milk, 115-126. Butter, 126-128. 
Cheese, 128-130. 

Animal Foods Sometimes but not Ordinarily Eaten, 130-143. 

Cannibalism, 131. Mammals, 131-136. (Horse-flesh, 134-136.) Birds, 
137. Eeptiles, 137-139. Fish, 139. Insects, 139, 140. Earth-eating, 
141, 142. Table of references, 142, 143. 

Vegetable Alimentary Substances, 144-315. 

Farinaceous seeds, 144-166. The cerealia, 144-166, Wheat and flour, 
145-148. Bread, 148-152. Miscellaneous articles prepared from flour, 
153, 154. Unwholesome wheaten products, 155, 156. Oats, 156-158. 
Barley, 158-160. Eye, 159, 160. Indian corn, 161, 162. Rice, 162- 
164. Millet, 164. Buckwheat, 164, 165. Quinoa, 165. Leguminous 
seeds, or pulses, 165-168. Oleaginous seeds, 169-172. Tubers and roots, 
172-180. Potatoes, 172-176. Herbaceous articles, 180-186. Products 
of the cabbage tribe, 180-182. Various vegetables, 182-186. Fruity 
products consumed as vegetables, 186. Esculent fungi, 187-190. Varie- 
ties of fruit, 190-207. Bark, 207. Saw-dust and woody fibre, 207. 
Vegetable butter. 207, 208. Saccharine preparations, 208, 209. Saccha- 
rine products, 209-212. Farinaceous preparations, 212-215. 

Beverages, 216-269. 

Water, 216-221. Non alcoholic, exhilarating, and restorative bever- 
ages, 221-236. Tea, 22^-226. Representatives of tea, 226, 227. Cof- 
fee, 227-231. Fictitious coffee, 231. Chiccory, 231, 232. Guarana, 
232, 233. Cocoa, 233. Fictitious cocoas, 236. Coca, 236. Alcoholic 
beverages, 237-269. Effect of alcohol on the system, 237-241. Beer, 
241-243. Cider, perry, 243, 244. Wine, 244-265. French wines, 259- 
261. German wines, 261. Hungarian wines, 261, 262. Greek wines, 



CONTENTS. XI 

PAGK 

362. Italian wines, 262. Australian wines, 262. Port and other wines 
of Portugal, 262, 263. Sherry and other Spanish wines, 268, 264. Mar- 
sala, 264. Madeira, 264, 265. Cape, or South African wines, 265. Mis- 
cellaneous fruit and other wines, 265. Mead or metheglin, 265. Spirits, 
265-268. Liqueurs, 268, 269. 

Condiments, 269 

The Preservation of Food 270-273 

Modem processes of preservation, 270. Four means of preserving 
food, viz. , by cold, drying, exclusion of air, and use of antiseptics, 270- 
273. 

Principles of Dietetics 274-303 

Composition of milk and the egg, 274. Researches of the Paris Gela- 
tine Commission, 274-277. Position held by nitrogenous matter, 277- 
279. Question as to the necessity of fats and carbohydrates, 279. Ad- 
aptation of food to demand, 280. Liebig's estimate of the nutritive value 
of food, 281. Frankland's estimate of the force-producing value of food, 
282-285. The appetite as a measure of capacity for work, 285, 286. 
Nitrogenous matter required for physical development, 286. Human 
labor more expensive than steam work, 287. Moleschott's table of a 
standard or model diet, 288. Adjustment of food to climate and work, 
288-290, Table showing percentage composition of various articles of 
food, 291. Pi ay fair's dietaries, 292-294. Workhouse dietaries, 294. 
Prison dietaries, 294, 295. Tables of hard and light labor diets, 296. 
Industrial employment, penal, and punishment diets, 297, 298. Instances 
of limited diet, 299. Table from Payen of percentage value of food in 
nitrogen and carbon, 300, 301. Out-going of nitrogen and carbon as a 
diet basis, 302, 303. 

Practical Dietetics 304-343 

Kind of food best adapted for the support of man, 304. Varieties of 
diet consumed by different nations : Arctic Regions, 804-306. North 
American Indians, 306 ; Mexico, 306, 807 ; Pampas Indians, 307 ; Guachos, 
307 ; Natives of Australia, New Zealand, 307, 308 ; of the Friendly Is- 
lands, 308 ; Otaheite, 309 ; Feejee Islands, 309 ; Tanna, New Caledonia, 
Savu, 309; Sandwich Islands, 809, 310; China, 310; Japan, 310, 311; 
India, Ceylon, 311; Africa, 311-314; Mixed food the natural diet of 
man, 314. Vegetarianism, 314, 815. Dietetic value of meat often over- 
estimated, 315. A certain amount of fresh food necessary to health, 
316. Effects of animal and vegetable food compared, 316-320. Proper 
amount of food, 320-323. Effects of excess and deficiency of food, 323- 
325. Times of eating, 326-331. Culinary preparation of food, 331-336. 

Diet op Infants, 336-339. 

Woman's milk, 336, 337. Milk of lower animals, 337-339. Farina- 
'ceous food, 338, 339. Liebig's food, 339. 

Diet for Training, 340-343. 

Object of training, 339. Old and new systems, 340-342. Oxford and 
Cambridge systems, 342, 343. 



XU CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Therapeutic Dietetics 344-386 

General considerations, 344-346. Diet for gout, 346, 347. Influences 
of food, 347, 348. Principles of dieting for thinness and stoutness, 348, 
349. Reduction of corpulency, 349-351. Dietary for the diabetic, 351, 
352. Ill effects of restriction to salted and dried provisions, 352. Regu- 
lation of amount of fluid, 352, 353. Effect of varieties of food on the 
urine, 353-355. Food for weak digestion, 355-357. Food for dyspepsia, 
, 357, 358. Food for disordered states of the intestinal canal, 358, 359. 

Dietetic Preparations for the Invalid, 359-365. 



Hospital Dietaries 366-386 

Guy's Hospital, 366. St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 367. St. Thomas's 
Hospital, 368. London Hospital, 368, 369. St. George's Hospital, 369, 
370. Middlesex Hospital, 370-372. University College Hospital, 372. 
King's College Hospital, 372, 373. St. Mary's Hospital, 373, 374. West- 
minster Hospital, 374, 375. Seamen's Hospital, 375. Leeds General 
Infirmary, 375, 376, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Dispensary, 376, 
377. Birmingham General Hospital, 377, 378. Newcastle-upon-Tyne 
Infirmary, 378, 379. Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, 379, 380. Glasgow 
Royal Infirmary, 380, 381, Richmond, Whitworth, and Hardwicke Hos- 
pitals (Dublin), 381, 382. Bethlehem Lunatic Hospital, 382. St. Luke's 
Hospital for Lunatics, 383, Hanwell Lunatic Asylum, 384, 385. Colney 
Hatch Lunatic Asylum, 386. 

Index 387-402 



A TEEATISE 



ON 



FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



INTEODUCTOEY EEMAEKS ON THE DYNAMIC 
EELATIONS OF FOOD. 

The discoveries and inductions of the present age have thrown a new 
light on the physiology of food. 

Around us we have to deal with Matter and Force — the one a sub- 
stantive entity, the other appreciable only as a principle of action. It 
has long been known- that matter (as cognizable in our own era) can be 
neither created nor destroyed. It may be variously combined and modi- 
fied, but it remains the same in essence and unaltered in amount. Force, 
also, has recently been recognized as similarly conditioned; and in order • 
that the bearings of food in relation to this principle may be understood, 
some preliminary considerations explanatory of the views now entertained 
regarding it are necessary. 

To start, then, we may take it as accepted that, under present condi- 
tions, force, like matter, can neither be created nor destroyed. " Ex 
nihilo nihil fit " and " Nihil lit ad nihilum " form axioms that must be ad- 
mitted to be incontrovertible. If we except the inconsiderable accession 
derived from the occasional descent of a meteoric body, the earth's mat- 
ter remains fixed in amount. It is otherwise, however, with respect to 
force. Under the form of heat and light, force is constantly being trans- 
mitted to us from the sun; and it is from the force thus derived that, in 
a manner to be explained further on, life on earth originates and is sus- 
tained. 

In enunciating his doctrine on the ** Correlation of the Physical 
Forces," Grove demonstrated that one kind of force was capable of pro- 
ducing another. His views were first made known at a lecture delivered 
at the London Institution in 1842. The word " correlation " he employed 
as meaning "reciprocal production — in other words, that any force capa- 
ble of producing another may in its turn be produced by it." The posi- 
tion sought to be established was that heat, light, electricity, magnetism, 
chemical affinity, and motion, are all correlative, or have a reciprocal de- 



2 A TREATISE ON" FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

pendence — that either might produce the others, and that neither could 
originate otherwise than by production from some antecedent force or 
forces. 

Just at this time the same field of inquiry was being investigated by 
other workers. While Grove was asserting that the great problem await- 
ing solution in regard to the correlation of physical forces was the estab- 
lishment of their equivalent of power, or their measurable relations to a 
given standard, Mayer, Joule, and Helmholtz were announcing the actual 
equivalents themselves. 

Mayer, of Germany, had the priority in the publication of his re- 
searches. As a member of the medical profession he approached the sub- 
ject through its relation to physiology. In 1842 he propounded, in its 
full comprehensiveness, the doctrine of the " Conservation of Force." 

Nearly at the same time Mr. Joule, of Manchester, discovered the 
equivalent of heat in mechanical motion. He had been led to prosecute 
researches in that direction, with the view of ascertaining the relative 
value of heat and motion for the advantage of engineering science. He 
found that what sufficed to raise the temperature of a pound of water one 
degree Fahrenheit would, under another mode of action, raise 772 pounds 
a foot high; or, putting it conversely, the fall of 772 pounds of water 
from a height of one foot would give rise to an amount of heat sufficient 
to elevate the temperature of one pound to the extent of one degree 
Fahrenheit. Thus the mechanical work corresponding to the elevation 
of 772 pounds a foot high, or, what comes to the same thing, one pound 
772 feet high, forms the dynamic equivalent of one degree of heat of 
Fahrenheit's scale. 

It is necessary to state here that the term " force," when used in a 
strict sense, is employed under a more limited acceptation now than for- 
merly. Originally it represented what is now distinguished as both 
"force" and "energy." By "force," under a rigid signification, is un- 
derstood the power of producing energy; by "energy" the power of 
performing work. To give an illustration : power has force, the cannon- 
ball energy; but to speak of the force of the cannon-ball is inexact. I 
may also remark that the words " actual " and " potential " are in frequent 
use to qualify the state in which energy is met with. By actual energy 
is meant energy in an active state — energy which is doing work. By 
potential energy, energy at rest — energy capable of doing work, but not 
doing it. In a bent cross-bow there is potential energy — energy in a state 
of rest, but ready to become actual, or to manifest itself when the trig- 
ger is pulled. Again, actual energy is evolved from the sun. By vegeta- 
ble life this is made potential in the organic compounds formed. In 
these organic compounds the energy is stored up in a latent condition; 
potential energy is reconverted into actual energy when they undergo ox- 
idation during combustion or in their utilization in the animal economy. 

The doctrine of the "Conservation of Energy" implies that energy 
is as indestructible as matter, that a fixed amount exists in the universe, 
and that, however variously it may be modified, transferred, or trans- 
formed — in spite of all the changes of which it may be the subject 
throughout the realm of nature — it cannot be created or annihilated, in- 
creased or diminished. The doctrine further implies that the different 
forms of energy have their definite reciprocal equivalents; that so much 
chemical energy, for instance, will produce so much heat, which is the 
representative of so much motive power, and so on. The ascertained 
equivalents of heat and motive power have been already given. 



DYNAMIC RELATIONS OF FOOD. 3 

Accepted as applicable to the physical forces, the doctrine of the 
** Conservation of Energy" next began to be applied to living nature. 
Grove, in his " Correlation of Physical Forces " (second edition, p. 89), 
suggested that the same principles and mode of reasoning adopted in his 
essay might answer equally for the organic as for the inorganic world, 
and that muscular force, animal and vegetable heat, etc., might, and one 
day would, be shown to possess similar definite correlations. He pro- 
ceeded no further, however, remarking that he purposely avoided enter- 
ing upon a subject not pertaining to his own field of science. 

At this time the general belief prevailed that the processes going on 
in the living body were determined by '' vitality " or the " vital principle." 
The physical forces, it was supposed, were overruled in the living by the 
vital principle. Without discussing whether we are to admit or deny the 
existence of this principle as a distinct operating force — a question which 
has been handled by some of the leading men of science of the day — we 
must, I think, concede, as a matter of experience, that in the living or- 
ganism there are influences at play which have no existence in the dead 
matter around. Matter which has been impressed with life can produce 
effects which dead matter cannot. This does not conflict with the exten- 
sion of the law of the " Conservation of Energy " to living nature. The 
effects produced may have their origin in the physical forces — the living 
matter forming the medium through which they operate. With artificial 
appliances force may be made to produce various effects, according to the 
nature of the instrument employed. With the same force in operation 
different kinds of work are performed, according to the character of the 
machine set in motion. Between the two — living matter and a machine 
— there exists an analogy which admits of being followed still further. 
It is only when in a certain state that matter is capable of forming the 
medium for the exercise of force in the production of living operations. 
Modify this state, and though there may be the same matter to deal with, 
3^et it is no longer capable of fulfilling the same office it performed before. 
So in the case of an ordinary machine: it must possess a particular con- 
struction before it can form the medium for the operation of force. Dis- 
arrange this construction, and, although the matter remains unchanged, 
the application of force is without its proper effect. Thus a disarranged 
machine may be compared with living matter devitalized. In both, the 
capacity of being set in operation by force has existed, and in both that 
capacity has been lost. Further, it may be said that a machine in work- 
ing order, but unoperated on by force — that is, in a state of rest — is like 
matter possessing vitality, but in a dormant state. Both are ready to 
move directly the proper force is applied. 

Applying the law of the " Conservation of Energy " to living nature, 
the forms of force which we observe in operation are all primarily de- 
rived from the sun. When a weight is lifted by the hand it certainly 
seems a long way off to go to the sun for the muscular force employed 
in the act; yet the doctrine of the " Conservation of Energy" justifies, 
as I will proceed to show, the conclusion that its origin is there. 

To begin with, the force evolved in muscular action has its source in 
the material which has been supplied to the body in the form of food. 
Now all food comes primarily from the vegetable kingdom, and vegeta- 
ble products are built up through the agency of the sun's rays. It may 
be said that the energy contained in these rays, which has been employed 
in producing the compound, is fixed or rendered latent within it. When 
the cross-bow is bent, the force derived from the muscular action em- 



4 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

ployed in bending it is stored up, ready to be again liberated when the 
trigger is pulled, no matter whether this be at once or a hundred years 
hence; and the force given to the arrow when it is launched is neither 
more nor less than that which has sprung from the muscular action em- 
ployed in bending the bow. The same with vegetable products. Their 
formation is coincident with the disengagement of oxygen from oxidized 
principles and the development of combustible compounds. To eifect 
this disengagement the operation of force is required. Now, the force 
so employed has its source in the heat and light evolved from the sun, 
and that which is used for the purpose may be said to become fixed and 
to exist in a latent condition — to exist stored up in the product, ready 
to be again liberated on exposure to conditions favorable to oxidation. 
Thus may these vegetable products be compared to a bent cross-bow, 
containing, as they do, a store of latent force, which may for an indefinite 
period remain as such, or may be liberated soon after it has been fixed. 
Whenever liberated, it is no more nor less than the equivalent of the 
force which has been used in the formation of the product. Our coal- 
fields represent a vast magazine of force drawn, ages ago, from the sun's 
rays, and capable at any moment of being set free by the occurrence of 
oxidation. 

Vegetable products, then, may be regarded as containing a store of 
force accumulated from the vast supply continually emitted with the sun's 
rays; and, upon the principle of indestructibility enunciated, the force 
which has been employed in unlocking the elements in the combinations 
from which vegetable products are built up, and in forming the new com- 
pound, is contained in such compound in a latent state. Now, as above 
stated, animals either directly or indirectly subsist upon these vegetable 
products, and are thence supplied by them with accumulated force. By 
oxidation the force is set free in an active state under some form of mani- 
festation or other. It matters not in what way — whether rapidly or 
slowly, or under what circumstances; whether inside or outside the living 
system — the oxidation occurs, the result is the same, so far as the amount 
of force liberated is concerned, it being implied in the doctrine of the 
" Conservation of Energy " that it should constitute the equivalent of the 
solar force originally made use of. This is presuming complete oxida- 
tion to occur; but in the processes of animal life, although fully oxidized 
compounds, like carbonic acid and water, are formed and discharged, yet 
others, like urea, are expelled in an imperfectly oxidized state, and carry 
with them a certain amount of latent or unutilized force. 

Thus it is that the various forms of force manifested in the actions of 
animal life trace their origin to that emitted from the sun. Plants are 
media for fixing solar force — for converting actual into latent or poten- 
tial energy. Animals reconvert latent into various forms of actual force. 
Thus, in the various forms of actual force liberated by the actions of 
animal life, we have the equivalent of that which has been fixed by plants 
from the sun. As there is a revolution of matter, so is there a revolution 
of force within and around us. 

In the liberation of actual force, a complete analogy may be traced be- 
tween the animal system and a steam-engine. Both are media for the 
conversion of latent into actual force. In the animal system, combus- 
tible material is supplied under the form of the various kinds of food, and 
oxygen is taken in by the process of respiration. From the chemical 
energy due to the combination of these, force is liberated in an active 
state; and, besides manifesting itself as heat, and in other ways peculiar 



DYNAMIC RELATIONS OF FOOD. 

to the animal system, is capable of performing mechanical work. The 
steam-engine is supplied with combustible material under the form of 
coal, which differs from our food in representing the result of the vege- 
tative activity of a former instead of the present epoch. Air is also sup- 
plied, and from the combination which occurs between its oxygen and the 
elements of the combustible material, heat is produced, which in part is 
dissipated as such, but in part is applied to the performance of mechani- 
cal work. According to Helmholtz, the animal economy, in respect of its 
capacity to turn force to account in the accomplishment of mechanical 
work, is a more perfect instrument than the steam-engine. His calcu- 
lations lead him to conclude that whilst in the best steam-engine only one- 
tenth of the force liberated b}"" the combustion of its fuel is realizable as 
mechanical work, the rest escaping as heat, the human body is capable 
of turning one-fifth of the power of its food into the equivalent of work. 
There is this, however, to be remarked, that the fuel of a steam-engine 
is a far less expensive article than the food of an animal being. 

The animal body, then, may be regarded as holding an analogous posi- 
tion to a machine, in which a transmutation of chemical into other forms 
of force is taking place. Food on the one hand, and air on the other, are 
the factors concerned in the chemical action that occurs. It is throuoi-h 
the interplay of changes between food and air that the manifestations of 
animal life, consisting of heat-production, muscular contraction, nervous 
(including mental) action, and nutritive or formative, secretory, and as- 
similative action arise. The egesta, or substances dismissed from the 
system, are metamorphosed products of the ingesta, or substances entering 
the system. The elements are the same, in nature and in quantity, in the 
two cases, but their forms of combination, and, with them, their force 
accompaniment, are different. The force employed in building up th,e 
organic compounds belonging to food is again evolved as they descend 
by oxidation into more simple combinations, and in the force evolved we 
have the representative of the active manifestations of animal life. If 
the products discharged from the system were fully oxidized principles, 
the force developed in the body would equal that contained in a latent 
condition in the food. Such, however, is not completely the case, a cer- 
tain amount of latent force remaining, as has already been remarked, in 
some of the egesta. The position, therefore, may be formulated thus: 
The latent or potential force of ingesta equals the force developed in the 
body plus the force escaping with the egesta. In other words, the unex- 
pended force in the egesta and the force disengaged by the operations of 
life, and manifested under the various forms of vital activity, equal the 
force contained in the ingesta. 

What is required in food is matter that is susceptible of undergoing 
change in the system under the influence of the presence of oxygen. 
Life implies change, and the manifestations of life are due to the reaction 
of food, with the derivatives from it, and air upon each other. While in 
the inorganic kingdom a tendency to a state of rest prevails — while the 
closest affinities tend to become satisfied, and so establish equilibrium — in 
a manifestly living body rest is impossible. It is true, living organisms 
of certain kinds may exist in a state of rest, but then there is a suspension 
of vital manifestations. The state constitutes that which falls under the 
denomination of "dormant vitality." Animal organisms may exist in it, 
and the seed of a plant naturally remains for a while in it. Molecular 
rest, and, with it, an absence of any show of vital activity prevail. Con- 
currently, however, with the manifestation of vital activity, molecular 



6 A TREATISE 01^ FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

change — change in a particular or prescribed direction — occurs. Organic 
compounds become resolved by the agency of oxygen into more simple 
combinations, as carbonic acid, water, and urea, and cease to be any 
longer of service. To maintain a continuance of vital activity fresh or- 
ganic material is required: hence the demand for food. But food and 
the other material factor of life — oxygen — do not constitute all that is 
needed. It is further necessary that the two should be brought within 
the sphere of influence of living matter, in order that the changes may 
be made to pursue the particular line of direction resulting in the phe- 
nomena of life. 



ON THE OEIGINATION OF FOOD. 



Our food is in the first instance derived from the vegetable kingdom. 
Dumas at one time said, "L'animal s'assimile done ou detruit des matieres 
organiques toutes faites; il n'en cree done pas." But, as he afterward 
admitted, this is not the case. The animal, it is true, is constantly con- 
suming or destroying organic substances, and is incapable of forming 
them from the inorganic principles, but supplied with organic matter, 
organic compounds of various kinds are constructed. 

Mulder's discoveries in 1838 led up to the doctrine that the albumin- 
ous compounds of plants and animals agree in composition and properties, 
whence it was inferred that the animal simply took the compound pro- 
duced by the plant and made it a component part of its own body. Lie- 
big was the first to maintain that animals possessed the power of forming 
one kind of organic compound out of another. A warm controversy was 
at one time carried on upon this point, turning particularly upon the for- 
mation of fat. While, on the one hand, it was held by Liebig that, in 
the animal system, fat could be formed from sugar, Dumas and Boussin- 
gault maintained, on the other, that whatever fat was found in an animal 
being was derived through its food from without. From the researches 
initiated by this dispute, it became incontestably established that Liebig 
was right, and the French chemists were ultimately compelled, even on 
the evidence of the results obtained by themselves, to abandon the doc- 
trine they had advanced. 

A moment's consideration will, further, suffice to show that one kind 
of albuminous compound is capable of being constructed from others. In 
the young mammal, subsisting solely on milk, it is to the caseine that we 
must look for the source of fibrine and albumen; and in the animal feeder, 
secreting milk, the caseine produced is derived from the fibrine and albu- 
men. Gelatine, moreover, has no existence in vegetable food. At the 
present day we may waive the discussion of this matter, it being now es- 
tablished that none of these nitrogenous principles enter the system 
under the form in which they occur in food. They are all converted, 
during the performance of digestion, into a certain principle (albuminose), 
which is the principle that is absorbed, and that is subsequently trans- 
formed by the assimilative power of the animal into the various com- 
pounds met with. 

The position, then, is this: That animals are not simply consumers of 
organic compounds, but are capable of exerting a constructive action as 
well. They must, however, be supplied with organic matter previously 
formed, and thus the capacity that really exists is that of transforming 
one organic compound into another. All organic matter has its primary 
source in the vegetable kingdom, from which kingdom, it follows, all our 



8 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

food must directly or indirectly be derived. The vegetable feeder goes 
directly for its food to the vegetable kingdom. The animal feeder is 
equally dependent upon the products of the vegetable kingdom for its 
pabulum. But it obtains it only at second-hand, so to speak, or in an 
indirect manner, its food consisting of the flesh of animals which have 
themselves been nourished upon vegetable products. 

Now, it is only under exposure to the action of the sun's rays that 
plants will grow, and hence it is to the influence of these rays that we 
must refer the production of food in the first instance, and the primary 
source of all life upon our earth. 

It has already been shown how the energy emitted from the sun, under 
the forms of heat and light, is capable, through the medium of the plant, 
of disengaging oxygen from its combination with carbon and hydrogen 
in carbonic acid and water, and leading to the formation of reoxidizable 
compounds; and how the energy evolved from the reoxidation of these 
compounds, whether by combustion or within the animal system, repre- 
sents or forms the equivalent of that employed in effecting their con- 
struction. 

What an immeasurable amount of force to be, and to have been, 
emitted from the solar centre! It is true that it must possess a store of 
heat altogether unrealizable by comparison with anything cognizable 
around us; for it has been shown, by recent investigations with the spec- 
troscope, that iron and other metals, which cannot by any known method 
of heatTapplication be converted into the gaseous state upon our earth, 
exist in that state around the sun. It is true, also, that the sun is a body 
of almost inconceivable magnitude. To give the simile of Helmholtz, 
" its diameter is so great that if you suppose the earth to be put into the 
oentre of the sun, the sun itself being like a hollow sphere, and the moon 
going about the earth, there would be a space of more than two hundred 
thousand miles around the orbit of the moon lying all interior to the sur- 
face of the sun." * But when we come to consider that, taking the view 
now held by philosophers, in that small pencil of rays which has impinged 
upon our earth at a distance of nearly ninety-five million miles from the 
sun has been contained all the energy or source of power which has been 
fixed by plants, and much besides which has escaped being so utilized, 
we cannot help being struck at the immensity of the store of power exist- 
ing in the sun. Geology teaches us that at an early epoch in the history 
of our globe, this solar influence must have manifested itself to a much 
stronger degree then it does even at the present time. The vast coal-beds 
forming a portion of the earth's crust have originated in vegetable growth. 
During the carboniferous era, which comprised the period of this coal- 
formation, the atmosphere was probably laden with carbonic acid and hu- 
midity to a much greater extent than at the present day. But it is to the 
solar energy that we must look for the source of the luxuriant vegetation 
which evidently flourished at that time, and which must have existed in 
the Arctic Regions as well as in the lower latitudes, since coal-deposits 
are found there. 

It has been already stated that it is only under the influence of the 
force contained in the sun's rays that organic compounds are built up by 
.the agency of the plant; and it is found to be the green parts only of 
plants — those where chloroph}^ exists — that effect the decomposition of 

* Lectures on the Conservalion of Energy : Med. Times and Gazette, vol. i., p. 415, 
1864. 



ON THE ORIGINATION OF FOOD. 9 

carbonic acid and water — fixing the carbon and hydrogen and liberating 
the oxygen. This operation, it is the distinctive function of the plant to 
perform, and it fails to be carried on when either the influence of light is 
absent or chlorophyl is not present. Under these conditions — absence 
of light and chlorophyl — oxygen is absorbed and carbonic acid liberated 
instead, just as occurs in the animal. I have been informed that it is 
known to florists, as the result of practical observation, that in the case 
of the variegated-leaved geranium, a slip that may happen to be possessed 
of white leaves only will not grow alone like other slips. The absence of 
chlorophyl explains the non-capacity to effect the changes necessary for 
growth. 

The solar beam is composed of rays possessing different properties and 
different degrees of refrangibility, and the question has been raised — 
What part of the solar spectrum exerts greatest power over vegetable 
growth ? The colored rays produced by passing a pencil of light through 
a prism are arranged in the following order: violet, indigo, blue, green, 
yellow, orange, red. 

The greatest illuminating power of the spectrum is in the bright j'el- 
low rays, and the greatest heating power in rays below the red, and 
therefore less refrangible than any of the colored rays; whilst the great- 
est chemical power — power of effecting chemical change — is in the rays 
at the other extremity of the spectrum, namely, the violet, and in the in- 
visible rays just above, where the highest degree is encountered. 

Draper, from experiments conducted in 1843, states that on causing 
plants to effect the decomposition of carbonic acid in the prismatic spec- 
trum, he found the yellow rays by far the most effective. The relative 
power of the various colored rays he asserts to have been as follow^s: 
yellow, green, orange, red, blue, indigo, violet. 

In opposition to the conclusion arrived at by Draper, it is affirmed by 
others that it is to the blue and violet rays that must be referred the max- 
imum power of effecting the decomposition of carbonic acid through the 
medium of the plant. Helmholtz says: "The observations upon vege- 
table life have shown that plants can grow only under the influence of 
solar light, and as long as solar light, and principally the more refrangible 
parts of solar light, the blue and violet rays, fall upon the green parts of 
plants, the plants take in carbonic acid and exhale oxygen."* He further 
remarks, that in exerting this influence these rays are completely absorbed; 
for it can be shown that solar light which has passed through green 
leaves in full development is no longer capable of exerting any chemical 
influence. 

I have spoken of light as a factor in the construction of organic com- 
pounds by the plant. The elements of which these organic compounds 
consist are drawn from the inorganic kingdom, and chiefly, as Liebig 
pointed out, from carbonic acid, water, and ammonia — principles which 
all exist to a greater or less extent in the atmosphere, and from the at- 
mosphere are to a large extent, if not entirely, derived. In the case of 
the low vegetable organisms which become developed in moist situations 
as a green layer on the barren surface of rocks and stones, the elements 
required for their growth must have been derived solely from the atmos- 
phere. In the case of the higher organisms, however, the elements of 
growth are drawn from the soil as well as the atmosphere. Humus, which 
forms the constituent of the soil which supplies these elements, consists 

* Ibid., p. 473. 



10 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

of the decaying remains of organic products. But it is not as organic 
matter that humus serves as food to the plants: that is, it is not the or- 
ganic matter itself that is utilized. It is, on the other hand, as a source 
of carbonic acid and ammonia, principles resulting from its decomposi- 
tion, that it owes its position in relation to the alimentation of plants. 

The stages passed through in the history of vegetable life leading to 
the provision of a fitting supply of food for animal existence may be thus 
represented : Beginning, let us say, with a barren surface of rock, which 
may have been freshly exposed to the atmosphere from some subterra- 
nean, volcanic, or other agency, the germs of low vegetable organisms 
settling upon it, extract from the atmosphere their elements of growth. 
Passing through their term of life they die, and fresh ones spring up and 
similarly live and die. So the process goes on, higher and higher forms 
making their appearance. The decaying remains of this primitive growth 
encrust what was a barren surface with a layer of earth or mould, in which 
ultimately the highest plants find a suitable position for taking root and 
growing. Thus, clothed with vegetation, a fit locality is provided for the 
support of animal life, animal beings finding in the vegetable products 
now existing the necessary material for their subsistence. 

It may be mentioned here that there is one class of vegetable organ- 
isms — the Fungi — which seems to occupy an exceptional position, and to 
resemble animals in being dependent upon organic products for their 
growth. It is possible, however, that the seeming appropriation of organic 
matter may be more apparent than real, and that the dependence upon 
organic matter may arise from a specially large and constant supply of 
carbonic acid and ammonia being required as a condition of growth. Still 
it must be said that these vegetable organisms are not dependent for 
growth upon light like others, that they have no green surfaces for de- 
composing carbonic acid, and, in fact, that, instead of absorbing carbonic 
acid and setting free oxygen, they agree with animals in doing precisely 
the reverse. Such circumstances, it is true, are strongly suggestive of 
the occurrence of growth from an appropriation of organic compounds; 
but there is this to be remarked, that the growth under consideration oc- 
curs only where decay is going on, and there is nothing, at all events, to 
show that any other than organic compounds in a state of decomposition 
can be made use of. 

There are other vegetable organisms, such as Venus' fly-trap, the 
pitcher-plants, etc., which capture insects apparently with the view of 
deriving from their bodies organic matter for appropriation to the pur- 
poses of nutrition. In other respects, however, these plants agree in 
their mode of life with their fellow-organisms. 

The chief elements of the various organic compounds built up by the 
agency of vegetable life, are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, 
and phosphorus; and the following may be regarded as the sources from 
which they are derived. 

In the above enumeration, carbon is mentioned first, as being the ele- 
ment which occurs by far the most extensively in organic nature. Large 
as is the quantity of carbon entering into the composition of organic sub- 
stances, the main, if not the entire, source from which it is derived is the 
carbonic acid in the atmosphere. According, however, to Saussure, the 
amount of carbonic acid contained in air is not, as a mean, more than one 
part, by volume, in two thousand; but then it must be remembered tl)at 
it is constantly being generated, not only as a product of animal life, but 
from various processes carried on around us. 



ON THE OEIGINATION OF FOOD. 11 

Now it appears that the leaves and other green parts of plants are 
continually absorbing the carbonic acid, and, with the aid of light, effect- 
ing its decomposition, the oxygen being exhaled and the carbon detained 
and applied to the production of organic substances. Whilst it is only 
by the leaves and green surfaces that carbonic acid is decomposed and 
oxygen liberated, it is probable that its absorption is not limited to those 
parts, but that some enters through the roots, this being derived from the 
process of decomposition going on in the organic matter of the soil, and 
from the carbonic acid carried down from the atmosphere with the rain. 

Striking as it may seem, there yet are sufficient grounds for believing 
that the vast store of carbon contained in forests, of whatever extent we 
may encounter, has been derived in the manner above-mentioned. Geo- 
logical investigations render it almost certain that at one time the atmos- 
phere was far richer in carbonic acid than it is now, and that vegetation 
also was proportionately more luxuriant. 

The absorption of carbonic acid and exhalation of oxygen which takes 
place in plants, under the influence of light, constitutes, then, a process of 
alimentation. The reverse process — the absorption of oxygen and exha- 
lation of carbonic acid; a process which forms one of the principal phe- 
nomena of animal life — occurs also to some extent in plants, and stands 
out unconcealed during the night, when, from the absence of light, there 
is no decomposition of carbonic acid and liberation of oxygen going on. 
It also occurs as the result of certain operations of plant life, as, for 
instance, during germination, flowering, and fruiting. 

Hydrogen and oxygen are supplied to an unlimited extent to plants 
under the form of water. In the production of the carbohydrate group 
of organic compounds; that is compounds such as starch, sugar, dextrine, 
gum, cellulose, etc., in which carbon is united with hydrogen and oxygen 
in the proportion to form water, it is possible that water is directly assimi- 
lated, although this is by no means an ascertained fact. In a large num- 
ber of other compounds, however, it is evident from their composition 
that for water to serve for their production, its elements must undergo 
separation. The oleaginous compounds, for instance, chiefly consist of 
carbon and hydrogen. The amount of oxygen present is very much less 
than that required to form water with their hydrogen. For this element 
to be appropriated a deoxidation must occur, and it is believed that some 
of the oxygen exhaled by the plant under the influence of light has its 
source not only in carbonic acid, but likewise in water. 

Although plants are freely surrounded with nitrogen — this element 
forming the large constituent it does of the atmosphere — yet it is not 
from the atmosphere that the nitrogen of organic matter is derived. The 
researches of Saussure and Boussingault have demonstrated that plants 
are incapable of appropriating the free nitrogen of the atmosphere and 
elaboratino- it into orgcanic matter. Liebig-'s view, and it is one which is 
by common consent endorsed, is, that the nitrogen of organic matter is 
derived from ammonia. This able chemist was the first to show that 
ammonia is a constant constituent of the atmosphere. It is true that 
the quantity in which it is present is so small that it cannot be recognized 
except by extraction from a large volume of air. It may be removed and 
its quantity determined (" On the Estimation of Ammonia in Atmos- 
pheric Air," by Horace T. Brown : " Proceedings of the Royal Society," 
vol. xviii., p. 286) by passing a given volume of air through water slight- 
ly acidulated with sulphuric acid. It is also susceptible of recognition in 
rain-water, where it exists under the form of carbonate. Ammonia, like 



12 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

carbonic acid, forms a product of the decomposition of organic matter. 
The nitrogen of organic matter, indeed, is returned to the inorganic 
kingdom under the form of ammonia. Thus in humus we have a source 
of ammonia which, doubtless, combines with some of the carbonic acid 
also generated, and in this state is in great part dissipated into the 
atmosphere. The great volatility of the product would lead to this re- 
sult. Diffused through the atmosphere, it would be abstracted by rain 
and snow, and in this way carried back to the earth, to be brought in 
contact with the roots of plants, through which its absorption is supposed 
to be effected. According to Liebig, ammonia enters the vegetable 
organism in combination with carbonic or sulphuric acid, while, accord- 
ing to Mulder, the combination is with the acids he describes as existing 
in humus. 

Nitrogen is an element of the highest importance in regard to vege- 
table as well as to animal life. It is not onl}^ necessary that it should 
enter into the constitution of vegetable substances so that animals may 
obtain a supply of it with their food, but it forms an indispensable ele- 
ment in relation to the molecular changes of the plant as well as of the 
animal. Wherever living changes are carried on, nitrogenized matter is 
present. The proclivity of this to change forms one of its most charac- 
teristic qualities, and the changes it undergoes induce changes of a defi- 
nite kind in other matter which per se has a tendency to remain at rest. 
Thus, in nitrogenized matter we have, as it were, the requisite starting- 
point for the various changes which result in the phenomena of life. 

The four elements which have been referred to, viz., carbon, hydrogen, 
oxygen, and nitrogen, form by far the chief constituents of organic com- 
pounds, but sulphur and phosphorus are also present, to a small extent, 
bound up with the other elements in certain organic principles. Sulphur, 
for example, is met with in caseine, and both sulphur and phosphorus in 
fibrine and albumen. The probable sources of these elements are sul- 
phates and phosphates, the acids of the salts undergoing deoxidation 
through the medium of the operations carried on in the plant, in the 
same manner as occurs in the case of carbonic acid. 

As j'^et I have been referring merely to the source of the elements 
entering into the constitution of the organic compounds produced by 
plants, and upon this point it may be considered that our information is 
pretty definite. The precise mode, however, in which these elements are 
combined or elaborated into the infinite variety of organic compounds 
existing is quite another matter, and one which (it must be conceded) be- 
longs as yet only to the domain of hypothesis. The point has been the 
subject of many laborious researches, conducted by some of the most 
distinguished observers, but, in spite of these attempts to elucidate it, 
we have at present little or nothing beyond conjecture to deal with. It 
may be fairly surmised, however, that the production of the higher com- 
pounds is effected step by step, or by a series of transition stages, and 
not by a direct or immediate union of the elements entering into their 
composition. Whatever the exact changes that ensue, there can be no 
doubt that they proceed in a definite and precise order. In organic 
nature we know that change induces change, and the change first set in 
motion in the act of growth may be regarded as starting the changes 
which produce the various organic compounds met with. Bodies in con- 
tact with changing matter are within tlie sphere of infiuence of a meta- 
bolic or metamorphosing force, and to the operation of this force is to 
be ascribed much that occurs as the result of living action. 



ON THE OEIGINATION OF FOOD. 13 

It is the formation of organic compounds which constitutes the special 
province of the plant to effect in relation to the production of food. 
Food, however, to fulfil the requirements of animal life must contain 
certain mineral or inorganic as well as organic principles — a supply of 
the former being quite as indispensable as a supply of the latter. But 
we need not concern ourselves about a separate supply of mineral mat- 
ter; for, wisely, the productions of nature contain in combination all that 
is wanted. It happens that, besides being furnished with carbonic acid, 
water, and ammonia for the formation of organic compounds, plants re- 
quire for their growth a supply of saline principles. These they draw 
from the surrounding soil, and a portion of the advantage accruing to 
vegetable growth from the employment of manure is owing to the mineral 
matter it contains, and which is thereby given to the soil. 

In appropriating mineral matter as an element of nutrition, the plant 
exercises a selective action. It is found, for instance, that some of the 
saline compounds belonging to the soil, and not others, are present, 
that they are present in different proportions as regards each other, 
and to a different extent in different parts of the plant. Mineral mat- 
ter holds, in fact, a definite relation to the component parts of a plant, 
and probably enters into some sort of combination with the organic 
constituents. 

Thus, in vegetable products we find not only the organic, but like- 
wise the inorganic matter we require; and, in taking up and apply- 
ing mineral matter as it does to its own purposes of growth as well 
as forming organic compounds, the vegetable organism contributes in 
a complete manner toward the supply of what is wanted for animal 
nutrition. 

A reciprocal relation, however, it must be observed, in reality exists 
between what is supplied and what is wanted. We are as much adapted 
to the appropriation of the food supplied to us as our food is adapted to 
our wants. Were we not so adapted, existence would be impossible for 
us. In nature all things are mutually adapted to each other. 

In what has been said about the production of food by the vegetable 
kingdom for animal subsistence, it is seen that animals and plants stand 
in direct anta2;onism to each other as re^rards the results of the main 
operations of life. Plants draw their food from the inorganic kingdom, 
and produce organic compounds. Animals find their food in these organic 
compounds, and, in applying them to the purposes of life, reconvert them 
into inorganic principles. In the appropriation of inorganic matter as 
food, plants absorb carbonic acid and set free oxygen. Animals, in their 
consumption of organic matter, absorb oxygen and give out carbonic 
acid. Thus animal life and vegetable life stand in complemental relation 
to each other, and it is in accordance with the requirements for the per- 
sistence of living nature upon the surface of our planet that it should be 
so. If the operations of animal and vegetable life proceeded in one and 
the same direction only, the effect would be a gradual alteration of the 
chemical arrangement of matter, until a state of things was arrived at 
unfit for the further continuance of life. Under the existing order of 
things, animals and plants in such a manner neutralize each other's effects 
upon surrounding matter that they balance each other's operations, and 
thereby maintain a state of uniformity. 



14 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



THE CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF FOOD. 

Of the various elements known to exist in nature, only a limited num- 
ber enter into the constitution of living bodies. The following is a list 
of those found as constituents of the human body: Carbon, hydrogen, 
oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, sodium, potassium, cal- 
cium, magnesium, iron, fluorine, silicon, manganese, aluminium, copper. 
The first four, namely, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, exist in 
far larger quantity than any of the others. As for those which occur 
toward the end of the list, they are present only in exceedingly minute 
quantity, if, indeed, they are invariably present — it is more than doubt- 
ful if they are to be regarded as essential constituents. 

The food being the source from which the elements forming the con- 
stituents of the body are derived, it follows that food must contain all 
the elements which are met there with. No article can, as food, satisfy 
the requirements of life that fails to comply with this condition. 



ALIMENTAEY PRINCIPLES : 

Theie Classipicatiois', Chemical Relations, Digestion?", Assimila- 
tion, AND Physiological IJses. 



Although it is necessary that our food should contain the elements 
that have been enumerated — and contain them in such proportion as to 
furnish the requisite amount of each to the system — yet it is not with 
these elements as such that, from an alimentary point of view, we have 
to deal. It is only in a state of combination that the elements are of any 
service to us as food; and, as has been already mentioned, the combina- 
tion must have been formed by the agency of a living organism — the 
combination must, in other words, constitute an organic product. 

Now, taking the different organic products which nature affords us 
as food, we find that they may, by analysis, be resolved into a variety of 
definite compounds. These constitute what are known as " alimentary 
principles," in contradistinction to " alimentary substances," or the arti- 
cles of food as supplied to us by nature. 

In a scientific consideration of food it is necessary to speak first of 
the alimentary principles. It is only, indeed, by looking at it through 
its constituent principles that we are in a position to discuss its physio- 
logical bearings, and I will begin by pointing out the most convenient 
division and classification to be adopted. 

Popularly, the ingesta are looked upon as consisting of food and 
drink, the one supplying us with solid, the other with liquid, matter. 
Superficially, this appears a natural and convenient mode of primary 
grouping, but in a physiological point of view it is completely worthless. 
*' Food "and " drink" constitute terms referring only to the particular 
state in which an article for consumption may happen to exist — viz., 
whether it is in a solid or liquid form. What is drunk, for instance, and 
this holds good particularly in the case of milk, may be rich in food or 
solid matter, and in the food we consume there is invariably a large pro- 
portion of liquid matter. 

Physiologically, then, the separation of the ingesta into "food" and 
" drink " is unsuitable. The two material factors of life are food and 
air; and food may be considered as comprising that which contributes to 
the growth and nutrition of the body, and, by oxidation, to force-pro- 
duction. Regarded in this comprehensive light, food embraces both solid 
and liquid matter; and the primary natural division is into organic and 
inorganic portions; that is, combinations of elements producible only 
through the agency of life, and chemical combinations drawn simply from 
the mineral kingdom and incorporated with the others. 

The inorganic portion of food consists of water and various saline 



16 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

principles. The organic portion may be subdivided into compounds of 
which nitrogen forms a constituent, and compounds from ^vhich it is ab- 
sent; in other words, into nitrogenized and non-nitrogenized compounds. 
The non-nitrogenized alimentary principles are composed of the three 
elements — carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, variously united together; 
whilst the nitrogenized likewise contain these three elements, but, in ad- 
dition, nitrogen, and, for the most part, sulphur, or sulphur and phos- 
phorus, as well. 

Liebig, regarding the nitrogenized and non-nitrogenized principles as 
contributing to quite distinct purposes in the animal economy, referred 
to them as forming the basis of a physiological classification. The former 
he looked upon as destined for appropriation toward the growth and 
maintenance of the components of the body, and therefore he called them 
"plastic elements of nutrition." The latter he regarded as simply de- 
signed for undergoing oxidation, and, in this way, for serving as a source 
of heat. These he termed " elements of respiration," but the expression, 
it must be said, does not properly convey what is meant, and Dr. R. 
Dundas Thomson suggested that the term " calorifiant " should be em- 
ployed instead. " Calorifacient," however, is a more appropriate word, 
and by general consent has been adopted. 

It stands to reason, that for the growth and repair of the various tex- 
tures of the body, as these have nitrogen forming an essential ingredient 
of their constitution, nitrogenized compounds must be supplied; but, from 
what is now known, it must also be said that these compounds are like- 
wise susceptible of application to heat-production. They are truly, in- 
deed, " histogenetic," or tissue-forming materials, but, by the separation 
of urea (which is known to occur in their metamorphosis in the animal 
system), a hydrocarbonaceous compound is left, which may be appro- 
priated to heat-production. It may be asserted, in fact, that there is suf- 
ficient to show that the nitrogenized principles in reality subserve both 
purposes in the animal economy. 

In fat, again, we have a non-nitrogenous principle, and one belong- 
ing, therefore, to the calorifacient group. There is every reason, how- 
ever, to believe that fat is essential to tissue-development. It seems to 
be intrinsically mixed up with nitrogenized matter in the animal tex- 
tures. Certainly it may be said to be directly applied toward the for- 
mation of adipose tissue. Fat, therefore, takes rank as a nutrient no less 
than as a calorifacient principle. 

Hence Liebig's definition is not to be accepted in a rigid sense. Al- 
though nitrogenized principles constitute true " elements of nutrition," 
yet it neither follows nor appears likely that they are limited to this pur- 
pose. Fats are undoubtedly important calorifacient principles, and can- 
not joerse supply what is required for tissue-development; they, never- 
theless, take part in the process. According to our current views, which 
will be discussed more fully further on, fats are also concerned, in a 
manner not previously suspected, in muscular force-production. Taking 
all these considerations into account, Liebiff's classification loses the scien- 

^ •••CI 

tific force it was originally supposed to possess. The subdivision of the 
organic portion of food, however, into nitrogenized and non-nitrogenized 
groups is still practically and physiologically convenient. 

Prout proposed a classification which arranged food in four groups of 
principles, viz.: 1st, the aqueous; 2d, the saccharine; 3d, the oleaginous; 
and 4th, the albuminous. 

It will be seen that this classification fails to include saline matter, 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 17 

which, as alread}' stated, forms an element indispensable to nutrition. 
The saccharine and oleaginous groups comprise non-nitrogenized prin- 
ciples, while the albuminous comprehends the nitrogenized. 

The classification that will be adopted in this treatise is one which in- 
volves no expression of physiological destination, but is based on the 
chemical nature of the principles. It is first assumed that food falls natu- 
rally into organic and inorganic divisions. 

Next, that the organic is subdivisible into nitrogenous and non-nitro- 
genous; and further, that the non-nitrogenous is naturally and conveniently 
again subdivisible into fats and carbohydrates — the former consisting of 
carbon and hydrogen in combination with only a small amount of oxygen; 
the latter of carbon, with oxygen and hydrogen always in such relation to 
each other as to be in the exact proportion to form water. To this latter 
group belong such principles as starch, sugar, gum, etc. 

It must be observed that there are a few principles which do not 
strictly fall within either of the preceding groups. Such, for instance, 
as alcohol, the vegetable acids, and pectin or vegetable jelly. Alcohol oc- 
cupies an intermediate place between the fats and carbohydrates, whilst 
the others are even more oxidized compounds than the carbohydrates — 
in other words, contain a larger amount of oxygen than is required for 
the conversion of their hydrogen into water. These principles are hardly 
of sufficient importance, in an alimentary point of view, to call for their 
consideration under a distinct head, and they will therefore be spoken of 
in connection with the carbohydrates. 

Having said thus much upon the classification of the alimentary prin- 
ciples, I shall next speak of them in relation to their respective physiolo- 
gical bearings, taking the groups in the following order: 1st, nitrogenous 
principles; 2d, hydrocarbons or fats; 3d, carbohydrates; 4th, inorganic 
materials. 



THE NITROGENOUS ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 

Nitrogen enters largely into the composition of the animal body. It 
therefore requires to be freely supplied from without. Although living 
in an atmosphere about four-fifths of which consists of nitrogen, yet it is 
not from this source (though the question was formerly entertained) that 
our supply of nitrogen is drawn. Nitrogen, to be available for us, must 
be supplied in a state of combination. It is not, indeed, with nitrogen 
in the form of an element that we have anything to do in the question of 
alimentation, but only with compounds containing it; and such compounds, 
it may be said (as regards animal alimentation), that have been produced 
under the influence of life — that is, compounds which answer to the name 
"organic." 

Organic nitrogenous matter, then, and not nitrogen, is what we re- 
quire to have supplied to us, and what alone we have to deal with physio- 
logically. Such nitrogenous matter must, therefore, constitute an essen- 
tial ingredient of our food, and we find that it there exists under various 
chemical forms. 

Chemists recognize several well-defined compounds amongst the nitro- 
genous matter found in different articles of food. Besides these, there 
may be some nitrogenous matter which is still susceptible of being used, 
but which has not yet been specialized, and which in an analvsis would fall 
2 



18 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

amongst the extractives. This, however, cannot be sufficient in amount 
to be of much significance. 

If we look at the nitrogenized alimentary principles which have been 
made known, some are characterized by yielding proteine when subjected 
to the action of an alkali and heat, whilst from others no proteine is simi- 
larly to be procured. The former comprise the albuminous group, and 
are often referred to as the proteine compounds; the latter constitute the 
gelatinous principles. 

When the discovery of proteine was first of all made by Mulder, the 
substance was regarded as forming the base or radical of the albuminous 
principles. It contains the four elements — carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, 
and nitrogen; and each of the albuminous principles was regarded as 
simply resulting from the combination of the supposed base with different 
quantities of sulphur and phosphorus, or sulphur only. It must be stated, 
however, that there is nothing to show that proteine really exists in the 
compounds from which it is to be obtained. It can be regarded only as a 
product of the chemical process to which it is necessary to subject the 
compounds in order to obtain it. Looked at in this light, it constitutes a 
chemical and not a physiological principle. It therefore has no direct 
physiological bearing, but nevertheless it serves to link together certain 
important physiological compounds. 

The albuminous or proteine compounds comprise albumen, fibrine, 
caseine, and certain other bodies which form modifications of these. 

Alhwnen may be looked upon as the most important representative of 
the proteine group. It consists of the four elements — carbon, oxygen, 
hydrogen, and nitrogen, with the addition of some sulphur and phos- 
phorus. As it is met with in animal productions, it is in such intimate 
union with fatty, alkaline, and earthy matter, that it is with some diffi- 
culty separable from them. It varies to some extent in its behavior, as it 
is obtained from different sources. The albumen of the blood, for in- 
stance, does not agree in all respects with the albumen of the white of 
^gg. One of the most striking properties of albumen is its coagulability 
upon the application of heat. It therefore exists under two states, viz., 
soluble and coagulated albumen. 

Albumen may be regarded as the pabulum in the blood from which 
the different animal tissues are evolved. That it can afford joer se the 
nitrogenous matter required for nutrition is proved by its being the prin- 
ciple in the Qgg from which are developed the nitrogenous tissues of the 
chick. 

Fibrine is characterized by its property of undergoing spontaneous 
coagulation. It is composed of the same elements as albumen, but con- 
tains a larger proportionate amount of sulphur, and also a rather larger 
quantity of oxygen. 

Caseine forms the proteine compound of milk. It is distinguishable 
from fibrine by not undergoing spontaneous coagulation, and from albu- 
men by not being coagulable by heat, and by being thrown down by or- 
ganic acids which do not precipitate albumen. Besides the four elements 
— carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen — it contains sulphur, but no 
phosphorus. It is remarkable for the large quantity of phosphate of 
lime which it is capable of holding bound up with it, and the tenacity 
with which it retains it. There is, it should be stated, a little uncertainty 
regarding the chemical constitution of caseine. By some it is regarded, 
not as a simple, but as a compound body — a body composed (in reality) of 
a combination of two or more others. 



U.S.Army^ 

ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 19 

Besides these well-known proteine compounds there are modifications 
of them which have been particularized by chemists, and the following 
may be referred to as connected with the subject of food. 

Vitelli7ie is the name given to the modified form of albumen which ex- 
ists in the yolk of the Qgg. There are certain points in which this 
substance comports itself differently with reagents from ordinary albu- 
men. 

Glohuline is the albuminoid matter existing in the fluid contents of 
the blood-corpuscle. It is there intimately associated with, but neverthe- 
less quite distinct from, the coloring matter. The same principle is also 
found in the crystalline lens of the eye. Different opinions have been ex- 
pressed regarding the true position it holds. Lecanu looked upon it as 
identical with albumen, and Simon with caseine, whilst Lehmann remarks 
that he would be disposed to place it by the side of vitelline, if the ele- 
mentary analyses were not opposed to that view. 

JSIyosiiie constitutes the insoluble principle of muscular substance, and 
is obtained by subjecting the tissue in a finely divided state to repeated 
washings with water. Another substance was described by Liebig as 
constituting muscle fibrine, and was named by him syntonine. It forms the 
principle dissolved from washed muscle by a weak solution of hydrochloric 
acid, and may be thrown down from this solution by neutralization with 
an alkali. It is present in and thereby increases the nutritive value of 
beef tea prepared according to Liebig's special directions. This principle 
has been lately regarded as nothing more than acid albumen ; and it is 
said that if either albumen, myosine, vitelline, or fibrine be treated with 
dilute acids the formation of acid albumen occurs which is, or appears to 
be, identical with syntonine. 

The proteine compounds have as yet been referred to only as they oc- 
cur in animal productions. But vegetable productions also contain com- 
pounds which, in the language of Liebig, are not only similar to, but ab- 
solutely identical with, the albumen, fibrine, and caseine of the animal 
kingdom. 

Vegetable albumen is contained in wheat and the other seeds of the 
cerealia. The juices of most vegetables, such as turnips, carrots, cauli- 
flower, cabbage, etc., yield more or less precipitate with heat by virtue of 
its presence. It is also found in considerable abundance in association 
with vegetable caseine in the oily seeds, such as almonds, nuts, etc. 

Vegetable fibrine, like albumen, is also found in the cereal seeds. It 
remains behind when flour is washed with a stream of water for the ex- 
traction of gluten. The albumen, starch, etc., are carried away with the 
water, and a tenacious mass is left, which is known as crude gluten. It 
is not this which constitutes vegetable fibrine, but vegetable fibrine forms 
a portion of it. By means of boiling alcohol the crude material obtained 
as above is resolved into two portions. The one which is dissolved con- 
sists of glutin and caseine, whilst that which remains is vegetable fibrine. 
Vegetable fibrine also exists in the juice of the grape and most vegetables. 

Vegetable caseine can be obtained from peas, beans, and other legu- 
minous seeds, and is sometimes specially denominated legumine. It also 
exists, with albumen, in the almond and such-like oily seeds. 

The gelatinous principles constitute nitrogenous compounds, but do 
not yield proteine like the compounds that have just been referred to. 
They comprise gelatine and chondrine, and are obtainable only from ani- 
mal products: gelatine from bone and other structures containing fibrous 
tissue, and chondrine from cartilage. The most striking property they 



20 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

possess Is that of their aqueous solution gelatinizing upon cooling. It is 
gelatine which forms the basis of soups. Besides carbon, hydrogen, oxy- 
gen, and nitrogen, as constituent elements, a small amount of sulphur ap- 
pears also to be present. They contain no phosphorus. 

The question has been raised, and largely discussed, as to whether 
gelatine and chondrine exist in the tissues, or are formed in the process 
of obtaining them, viz., the prolonged boiling of the tissue in water. On 
looking at the chemical properties of gelatine, we notice that it forms 
an insoluble compound with tannic acid. Now, it is well known that a 
structure which yields gelatine, on being soaked in a solution of tannic 
acid, gives rise to the formation of the compound mentioned. It is this, 
indeed, which forms the basis of leather, a fact which is strongly in favor 
of gelatine really existing as a constituent of the animal body. 

It has been stated that the gelatinous principles which have fallen 
under consideration are to be obtained only from animal products. No 
nitrogenous compound of the kind is met with in vegetable materials. 
The jelly yielded by fruits and some other vegetable substances is quite 
a different article. It consists only of the three elements — carbon, hydro- 
gen, and oxygen, and is known chemically as pectine and pectic acid. 

All the nitrogenous principles must undergo digestion before they can 
enter the system. Digestion, in fact, is simply a process which has for 
its object to fit substances for absorption into the system; and the nitro- 
genous principles are in a state to resist absorption, certainly to any 
material extent, until they have been liquefied and transformed by the 
agency of digestion. 

Beyond being mechanically comminuted or reduced to a more or less 
finely divided state in the mouth, our nitrogenous food undergoes no 
change until it reaches the stomach. In this organ it is brought into 
contact with a secretion, the gastric juice, which has the eifect of dissolv- 
ing and transforming it into a principle which possesses the important 
property of being highly diffusible, and thereby readily transmissible from 
the alimentary canal into the blood-vessels. With all the nitrogenous ali- 
mentary principles the result is the same. They each, under the influence 
of the gastric juice, lose their characteristic properties and become con- 
verted into the highly soluble and diffusible product referred to. 

Mialhe was the first to recognize this product of the digestion of the 
nitrogenous principles, and gave it the name of alhiwiinose. Peptone is 
the name which has since been applied to it by Lehmann. Mialhe held 
that the substance obtained by the digestion of the proteine bodies was 
identical with that obtained by the gelatinous principles. This would 
bring the latter into precisely the same position with regard to nutrition 
as the former. Although our knowledge about the precise extent of the 
capacity of gelatine as an article of nutrition cannot be looked upon as com- 
plete, yet the information before us justifies the inference that it does 
not possess the same capabilities as an albuminoid substance. If such be 
true, the products of digestion of the two cannot be completely identical, 
however much they may resemble each other in their general properties. 

It has been stated that, by the action of the stomach, the various 
principles composing our nitrogenous food lose their characteristic 
properties, and become converted into a substance which has received the 
designation of peptone from one, and albuminose from another. Fibrine 
is dissolved, and is not susceptible of again solidifying. Albumen in a 
fluid form is not precipitated, as has been asserted, and then redissolved, 
but simply transformed. Albumen in the solid or coagulated state is 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES, 21 

dissolved, and fails to be again coagulable. Caseine is first rendered 
solid, or curdled, and then redissolved. It is now no longer susceptible 
of being thrown down. Gelatine is liquefied, and cannot again be made 
to gelatinize. 

No matter from what principle a digestive product or peptone has been 
obtained, the following are the characters which are found to belong to it. 
It is soluble to the highest degree in water, and it signifies nothing 
whether the liquid is in the acid, neutral, or alkaline state. It is not 
precipitable from its aqueous solution by heat. It is soluble in dilute 
alcohol, but absolute alcohol precipitates it. It is an uncrystallizable 
substance, devoid of odor and almost of taste. In a physiological point 
of view its most important property is the high degree of dift'usibility it 
enjoys. It is designed for removal from the alimentary canal by absorp- 
tion, and, by possessing the property referred to, a physically favorable 
disposition exists for the accomplishment of what is wanted. 

The nitrogenous alimentary principles, then, on reaching the stomach, 
are fitted for absorption by undergoing transformation into a highly solu- 
ble and diffusible substance. The change, we know, is wrought by the 
secretion of the stomach, although the precise modus operandi cannot be 
explained. There are two indispensable ingredients of the gastric juice, 
viz.,pepsine (a neutral nitrogenized principle) and an acid. Pepsine is a 
secretory product, peculiar to, and therefore obtainable only from, the 
stomach. About the acid there is nothing peculiar, and different views 
have been held regarding the kind of acid that is naturally present. With 
the combination of pepsine and acid, a liquid is obtained which dissolves 
nitrogenous matter in the same manner out of as within the stomach. 
According to Lehmann, it is only hydrochloric and lactic acids — and these, 
the same authority affirms, give the acidity to the natural secretion — 
which yield an energetic digestive fluid with pepsine; but, according to 
my own experiments on artificial digestion, other acids, siich as the phos- 
phoric, sulphuric, citric, and so on, will equally answer the purpose. 

From the above statements it follows that the solution of nitroo-enous 
food in the stomach is effected by the action of a liquid which owes its 
virtue to the presence of a couple of principles — pepsine and an acid. The 
action of this liquid is favored by the elevated temperature belonging to 
the body, and also by the movement to which the contents of the stomach 
are subjected by the action of the muscular fibres with which the walls 
of the organ are provided. As it is reduced to a fluid state the food is 
forced on into the upper bowel. Chyme is what this product of gastric 
digestion is called. Besides the nitrogenous matter in a dissolved state, 
it contains a portion suspended in a finely divided form which has not yet 
undergone solution, and likewise, in the same state, those constituents of 
the food which resist the solvent action of the stomach. 

The nitrogenous matter which has escaped from the stomach in an un- 
dissolved state is submitted to a further dig^estion in the intestine. This 
may be shown by direct experimental observation. And it is not by a 
continued action of the gastric juice which passes on with the food in its 
course, but by an action exerted by the secretions poured into the intes- 
tine itself. It has been stated that the presence of an acid forms an in- 
dispensable factor in gastric digestion. The chyme as it passes on from 
the stomach is strongly acid. It contains nitrogenous matter which has 
not yet undergone solution, and also gastric juice whose power (it may be 
inferred) has not become exhausted. So far, we have conditions which 
suffice for a continuance of the process carried on in the stomach. It hap- 



22 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

pens, however, that on reaching the small intestine the chyme encounters 
alkaline secretions. The pancreatic juice is, to a marked extent, alkaline, 
and so is also the intestinal juice. The bile likewise contains a quantity 
of alkali in feeble combination, and easily taken by the gastric juice acid. 
Thus it happens that the chyme becomes more or less neutralized as the 
small intestine is being traversed. As the result of observation, in fact, 
I have noticed that by the time the lower part of the ileum is reached, 
the intestinal contents may be found to present a neutral or even alkaline 
reaction. In this way, through contact with the secretions poured into 
the intestine, the energy of the unexhausted gastric juice contained in the 
chyme is destroyed, and whatever solution of nitrogenous food now oc- 
curs must be due to another agency. 

Let us, therefore, inquire into the effect which the various secretions, 
as they become incorporared with the chyme, are capable of producing. 

First, as regards the intestinal juice. This fluid, it is evident, pos- 
sesses some solvent influence upon nitrogenous matter. Bidder and 
Schmidt ascertained by experiment that meat and coagulated albumen, 
contained in a muslin bag, undergo, on being placed in the empty small 
intestine, in which the bile and pancreatic juice are prevented by a liga- 
ture from descending, in from four to six hours' time a considerable amount 
of digestion. In an experiment performed by myself, in which the hind 
legs of a frog that had been separated from the body, were introduced 
into the empty small intestine, secured by a ligature from the descent of 
secretions from above, I found, after the lapse of six hours, the legs par- 
tially digested — a portion of the skin, for example, having been dissolved 
away, the muscles underneath it separated, and some of the bones, to a 
slight extent, exposed. 

Next, as regards the pancreatic juice. Besides its other offices in the 
animal economy, this liquid acts upon and dissolves nitrogenous matters, 
as appears from the following considerations. 

In 1836, Purkinje and Pappenheim asserted that the pancreas con- 
tained a principle capable of exerting a digestive action upon the nitro- 
genized elements of food. This statement attracted little attention, and 
soon dropped out of notice. More recently Lucien Corvisart, of Paris, 
having reopened the subject, proved, by a series of experiments, that the 
pancreas, as one of its functions, supplements the action of the stomach, 
and, after a copious meal, contributes to digest those nitrogenous matters 
which have escaped the stomachic digestion. As far as the result is con- 
cerned, the two kinds of digestion, he states, coincide, each leading to the 
production of albuminose. While acidity, however, is a necessary condi- 
tion to digestion in the case of the gastric juice, the pancreatic secretion, 
it is affirmed, possesses the power of acting equally well, whatever the ex- 
isting reaction — whether acid, neutral, or alkaline. 

In support of his doctrine, Corvisart has adduced three sets of experi- 
mental results. 

In the first place: if the pancreas of an animal be taken when its active 
principle is at its maximum of quantity and quality, that is, from the 
fourth to the seventh hour after digestion has begun, and it be then 
finely cut up and infused for an hour in twice its volume of water at a 
temperature of 20° Cent. (68° Fahr.), and the infusion be at once experi- 
mented with, it will be found, he asserts, to possess a power of dissolving 
the nitrogenized alimentary principles, and converting them into albumi- 
nose; and this with no evidence of putrefaction being perceptible, pro- 
vided the experiment be stopped at the end of four or five hours, in which 



ALOIENTAEY PRIKCIPLES. 23 

time, under a temperature of about 100° Fahr., the pancreatic principle 
will have effected all that it is capable of doing. 

Secondly. — The pancreatic juice obtained during life from the duct of 
the gland is found, he affirms, to be capable of acting as a powerful solvent 
on the nitrogenized alimentary principles, when the requisite precautions 
are taken in conducting the experiment. The juice, that is to say, must be 
obtained from the fourth to the seventh hour after the ingestion of food, 
at which time it is charged to its maximum degree with the pancreatic 
principle; and must also be experimented with immediately after its col- 
lection. It dissolves, Corvisart says, fibrine more quickly and more largely 
than albumen. The heat being maintained between 42° and 45° Cent. 
(108° and 113° Fahr.), a specimen of pancreatic juice of ordinary energy 
dissolves, it is stated, if the mixture be agitated every quarter of an hour, 
all that it is capable of taking up of fibrine in two or three hours at the 
most, and of solid albumen in four or five hours, the experiment, up to 
this time, being attended with no evidence of ordinary decomposition, 
while at a subsequent period ordinary decomposition is found to set in. 

Thirdly. — Nitrogenized substances introduced into the duodenum when 
pancreatic juice is flowing into it are found to be dissolved, notwithstand- 
ing the gastric juice and bile are precluded from entering by applying a 
ligature to the pylorus and bile-duct. 

It is necessary to state that the evidence derivable from the last ex- 
periments must not be taken for more than it is really worth, viewed in 
relation to pancreatic juice ^j^er se. The bile and the gastric juice may, it 
is true, have been prevented entering the duodenum, and thereby pre- 
cluded from contributing to the effect, but it is impossible to exclude from 
operation the secretions of Brunner's and the other glands of the duode- 
num. 

My own experiments with the pancreatic juice at first inclined me to 
think that the effects producible op. nitrogenous matter through the agency 
of the pancreas were rather like those which result from putrefaction than 
from true dio-estion. 

On reperforming the experiments, however, I obtained results which 
certainly appeared to indicate that some digestive action had been at work. 
For example, upon operating with the pancreatic infusion, taken con- 
formably with the instructions of Corvisart, I found that frogs' hind-legs 
(which, according to my experience, constitute one of the most, if not the 
most, sensitive and distinct tests of digestive action) were, upon some 
occasions, softened, so that the flesh broke down under very slight pres- 
sure, without any evidence of ordinary putrefaction being apparent. The 
effect, however, was not to be compared with what is observed after the 
use of artificial gastric juice, and ordinary decomposition tends quickly to 
occur, which is not the case in experiments conducted with gastric juice. 

Whatever the power actually enjoyed by the pancreatic juice in this 
direction, the chief point of interest to us, as regards the subject of food, 
is not whether this or that secretion poured into the intestine will dis- 
pose of nitrogenous matter, but whether nitrogenous matter really under- 
goes digestion in the intestine; and, thus framed, it will be presently seen 
that the question admits of being answered in a very positive manner. 

The bile forms another secretion, which becomes incorporated with 
the alimentary matter after its exit from the stomach. There is nothing, 
however, to show that this fluid possesses any solvent power over the ni- 
trogenized principles of food. 

Remarks have been made upon the action of the secretions taken in- 



24 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

dividually, but as regards the subject of food, the point of greatest inter- 
est to us, as has been already said, is what occurs within the intestine 
when all the secretions are allowed .to enter. Experiment shows that 
there is a very powerful solvent action exerted, and, as I can state from 
personal investigation, a few hours suffice for nitrogenous matter, intro- 
duced directly into the upper part of the small intestine, to be completely 
digested. With reference, therefore, to the digestion of nitrogenous mat- 
ter, the intestine may undoubtedly be regarded as performing a part sup- 
plementary to that of the stomach. Besides its other functions, it serves 
to complete the digestion of whatever nitrogenous alimentary matter may 
have escaped the digestive action of the stomach, and it may be remarked 
that the same result — namely, the production of albuminose or peptone — 
occurs as when the solution has been effected in the stomach. * 

Reviewing the stages that are passed through preliminary to the ap- 
propriation of nitrogenous matter within the system, we have seen that, 
through the agency of the stomach and of the intestine, it undergoes 
conversion into a principle which, from its diifusible nature, is readily 
susceptible of absorption, and it is in this form, viz., as albuminose, that 
the various nitrogenous alimentary principles reach the circulation. 

The conversion of the nitrogenous alimentary matters into albuminose 
is necessary, it is further to be remarked, not only as a process prepara- 
tory to absorption, but also as fitting them for subsequent application to 
their proper destination. It cannot absolutely be affirmed that no ab- 
sorption whatever occurs without previous conversion into albuminose; 
but this much is certain, that the amount so absorbed must be verv tri- 
fling, and it can be shown that if they directly reach the circulation in 
any quantity, they visibly pass off without being applied to the purposes 
of the economy. 

Bernard was the first to demonstrate that the albumen of egg, reach- 
ing the circulation without having previqusly undergone digestion, quickly 
passes from the system into the urine. If introduced directly into one of 
the blood-vessels, or even if injected into the subcutaneous tissue, it rap- 
idly betrays its presence in the urine. This I can attest from my own 
experience. Both after injection into a vein and into the subcutaneous 
tissue, the albumen of egg, as I have often seen, is soon recognizable in 
the urine. 

It has also been observed that a meal consisting largely of eggs, par- 
ticularly if taken after prolonged fasting, has been followed by the ap- 
pearance of albumen in the urine. Here, apparently, it has happened 
that some albumen has reached the circulation without having undergone 
the usual conversion, and, as when experimentally injected, has been 
thence discharged with the urine. Hence it may be concluded, not only 
that egg-albumen and blood-albumen differ strikingly from each other in 
a physiological point of view, but that egg-albumen, as such, is not fitted 
for entering the circulation. 

The conversion of albumen into albuminose, therefore, not only bears 
on the facility of absorption, but on the adaptability for subsequent ap- 
plication in the system. The process of metamorphosis, in fact, is re- 
quired not only with a view to adaptability for absorption, but to subse- 
quent fitness for utilization in the system. 

Caseine and gelatine I have found * comport themselves in the same 



* Gulstonian Lectures (1862) on Assimilatiou and the Influence of its Defects on 
the Urine: Lancet, vol. i., p. 574, 1863. 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 25 

manner as albumen, namely, pass off from the system with the urine 
when directly introduced into the circulation. The injection of three 
ounces of milk into a vein was observed in an experiment to be followed 
by the appearance of caseine in the urine. The injection of one hundred 
grains of isinglass, dissolved in two and a half ounces of water, also so 
charged the urine with gelatine as to give rise to the formation of a firm, 
solid jelly on cooling. 

Thrown off as they thus are from the system, albumen, caseine, and 
gelatine are evidently not adapted for direct introduction into the circu- 
lation. Fibrine, on account of its solidity, cannot be similarly experi- 
mented with. Digestion, in its case also, is an indispensable condition 
to its introduction into the circulation. In respect, indeed, of all these 
principles, it may be said that their metamorphosis in the digestive sys- 
tem is needed as a preliminary step to their capability of appropriation 
in the body, and their application to the purposes of life. 

We have followed the nitrogenous alimentary principles to the stage 
of albuminose. The precise nature of what next ensues is not yet known. 
There can be little or no doubt as to the progress from albuminose to the 
albumen of the blood, but as to what next occurs we have no data to 
show. With the ultimate products that are formed we are acquainted, 
but the steps of metamorphosis are as yet beyond our knowledge. The 
chain we have hitherto followed now wants one or more links, which we 
have as yet no means of discovering. As regards the seat of metamor- 
phosis we have also no information of a precise nature to deal with, but 
we may, nevertheless, hazard the surmise that the liver is the viscus in 
which albuminose, like other nutritive matters absorbed from the ali- 
mentary canal, mainly, if not entirely, undergoes metamorphosis. The 
various nitrogenous principles of the body must be primarily derived from 
it ; but, whether by direct transformation into them, or by passing through 
the stao-e of albumen, we have not the means of decidino^. That albumen 
is susceptible of metamorphosis, however, into the other principles, we 
know, from its forming in the egg the pabulum whence the various nitro- 
genous principles of the young bird take their origin. 

Instead of wandering farther into the domain of conjecture as to the 
subject of metamorphosis, let us now turn our attention to the purposes 
fulfilled by the nitrogenous principles as alimentary matter. 

Foremost in importance is the supply of material for the development 
pri'inarily, and for the renovation secondarily, of the tissues. Wher- 
ever vital operations are going on, there nitrogenous matter is present, 
forming, so to speak, the spring of vital action. Although non-nitroge- 
nous matter contributes in certain ways toward the maintenance of life, 
yet it is nitrogenous matter which starts and keeps in motion the molec- 
ular changes which result in the phenomena of life. Nitrogenous mat- 
ter, it may be said, forms the basis, without which no life manifests itself. 
Life is coincident with molecular change. In non-nitrogenous matter 
the elements of the molecule are not, of themselves, prone to change; 
whereas in the molecule of nitrogenous matter there exists a greater 
complexity of grouping among the elements, and these cohere so loosely, 
or are so feebly combined, as to have a constant tendency to alter or to 
regroup themselves into simpler combinations. By this change in the 
nitrogenous, change is induced in the contiguous non-nitrogenous mole- 
cule, and, occurring as the whole does in a definite or prescribed order, 
the phenomena of life are produced. Nitrogenous matter, in this way 
forming the instrument of living action, is incessantly being disintegrated. 



26 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Becoming thereby effete and useless, a fresh supply is needed to replace 
that which has fulfilled its office. The primary object of nitrogenous ali- 
mentary matter may thereupon be said to be the development and reno- 
vation of the living tissues. 

We have seen that nitrogenous matter forms an essential part of liv- 
ing structures. It holds the same position in the case of the secretions. 
These owe the active properties with which they are endowed, chiefly, if 
not entirely, to a nitrogenous constituent. This is drawn from the blood 
by the glands just as it is drawn by the tissues; and on passing from the 
blood it is modified or converted^ by the agency of the gland, into the 
special principle encountered. Nitrogenous matter is thus as essential to 
the constitution of the active secretions as it is to the tissues; and, as the 
amount of the secretions required is in relation to the general vital activity, 
a corresponding demand for nitrogenous matter is created. 

I now come to treat of 7iitrogenous matter in relation to force produc- 
tion. 

The dependence of muscular and nervous action upon oxidation of the 
respective tissues is one of the many doctrines which have emanated from 
the inventive intellect of Liebig. According to the view propounded, 
nitrogenous matter alone constitutes the source of muscular and nervous 
power. The tissues being consumed in the exercise of their functional 
activity or the manifestation of their dynamic properties, fresh nitro- 
genous matter is alleged to be needed to replace that which has served 
for the production of power. Thus viewed, nitrogenous matter has been 
regarded as not only applied to nutrition and to the formation of the 
nitrogenous constituents of the active secretions, but also to the restitu- 
tion of the loss incurred by the production of power. What wonder, 
then, if, with all these purposes to fulfil, the nutritive value of food should 
have been measured, as it latterly has been, by the amount of nitrogenous 
matter it contains ? 

Liebig's doctrine was at once accepted, and until recently has been 
looked upon as expressing a scientific truth. Like many other of its 
author's views, its plausibility was such that no one ventured to question 
its soundness. Gradually, however, experimental inquiry began to in- 
validate it, and the reactionary move has advanced till Traube has been 
led to express himself in directly opposite terms regarding the source of 
muscular and nervous power. According to this authority, for instance, 
the organized or nitrogenous part of a muscle is 7iot destroyed or con- 
sumed in its action. The resulting force is affirmed to be due, instead, 
to the oxidation of non-nitrogeyioiis matter — the muscle merely serving as 
a medium for the conversion of the generated force into motor power. 
The point has attracted much attention of late, and researches of an 
elaborate nature have been conducted with regard to it. Let us see the 
position in which these researches have placed it. 

The argument representing the question to be solved may be thus ex- 
pressed: Does the force evolved by muscular action proceed from destruc- 
tion of muscular tissue ? If so, nitrogenous matter would be needed to 
replace the loss incurred, and the result would be equivalent to nitro- 
genous matter through the medium of muscle being applied to the pro- 
duction of motor power. Now, if muscular action is coincident with the 
destruction of muscular tissue, there must, as a product of the destruc- 
tion, be a nitrogen-containing principle eliminated. The elements of the 
compounds that have served their purpose in the economy do not accu- 
mulate, but are discharged from the system under certain known forms 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 27 

of combination. The nitrogen, therefore, belonging to a consumed nitro- 
genous structure should be recognizable in the effete matters thrown off 
from the body. Nay, more; as the force developed by muscular action 
cannot arise spontaneously — as it can be produced only by transmutation 
from another force — the destruction of muscular tissue (which through 
the chemical action involved supplies the force) should be in proportion 
to the amount of muscular work performed, and the nitrogen contained 
in the excreta in proportion also to the amount of muscular tissue de- 
stroyed. 

Now, in proceeding to measure the extent of tissue metamorphosis by 
the nitrogen eliminated, it is necessary, in the first instance, to be sure 
of our data regarding the channels through which nitrogen finds its exit 
from the body — it is necessary, that is to say, to ascertain whether nitro- 
gen escapes with the breath and perspiration, as was at one time asserted, 
as well as by the alimentary canal and the kidneys. We have no acces- 
sible means, it must be stated, of determining in a direct way whether 
nitrogen passes off by the lungs and skin. Our conclusions have to be 
based upon comparing the nitrogen ingested with that encountered in 
the urine and alvine evacuations. Formerl}'' it was said that a deficiency 
in the latter existed, and it was put down to loss by pulmonary and cu- 
taneous elimination. Barral, for instance, only detected half the nitro- 
gen of the food in the urine and faeces, and thence inferred that the re- 
mainder was discharged with the breath and perspiration, In opposition 
to this, however, several trustworthy observers (amongst whom may be 
named Voit, Ranke, Haughton, and Parkes) aided by the improved 
methods of analysis introduced by modern experience, have recovered 
within a very close approach all the nitrogen of the food from the urinary 
and intestinal excreta. Dr. Parkes' observations are especially worthy of 
reliance, and he confidently asserts that it may be looked upon as estab- 
lished, that an amount of nitrogen is discharged by the kidney and intes- 
tine equivalent to that which enters with the food. Admitting this to 
be the case, we have only to look to the products that escape from these 
two channels for the information that is wanted about the discharged 
nitrogen in relation to the question before us. 

Next comes the determination of the relation respectively held by the 
urinary and intestinal nitrogen to the point under consideration. 

It has long been known that the chief portion of the escaping nitro- 
gen is to be met with in the urine. Lehmann, for instance, found, while 
subsisting on a purely animal diet (eggs), that a daily average of 30.3 
grammes (467 grains) of nitrogen entered his system, and that a daily 
average of 24.4 grammes (376 grains) was discharged by the urine. 
Here, therefore, it was ascertained that an amount equal to five-sixths of 
the ingested nitrogen escaped by the kidneys. 

But more recent and precise evidence has been afforded by a series of 
very carefully conducted observations made upon two soldiers by Dr. 
Parkes.* The observations extended over sixteen consecutive days, and 
the results not only bear on the ingestion and egestion of nitrogen gen- 
erally, but likewise show that the great bulk of outgoing nitrogen is to 
be met with in the urine. The men were both of almost precisely the 
same weight at the end of the time as at the beginning, so that the in- 
going and outgoing matter must have been closely balanced. They were 
subjected to varying conditions of rest and exercise, but consumed ex- 



* Proceedings of the Royal Society, June 30, 1867. 



28 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

actly the same allowance of food every day. The nitrogen in the food 
taken during the sixteen days amounted to 313.76 grammes; and, from the 
urine of one of the men (distinguished as S.) there were recovered 303.- 
6G0 grammes, and from that of the other (distinguished as B.) 307.257 
grammes. Thus, the amount of nitrogen discharged from the kidneys 
was, in the case of S., only about ten grammes, and in that of B., six 
grammes less than that admitted with the food. The alvine evacuations 
were collected and analyzed only upon three occasions. Taking the 
mean of the results then obtained as representing the daily average, and 
calculating from this for the sixteen days, the quantity of nitrogen dis- 
charged from the bowels amounted in S. to 25.8 grammes, and in B. to 
17.2 grammes, thus somewhat exceeding the difference between the in- 
gested nitrogen and that excreted in the urine, or giving, in other words, 
rather more nitrogen discharged than nitrogen ingested. 

The nitrogen discharged from the bowels may be said to have been 
found to form, upon an average, from about one-eighth to one-twelfth or 
one-thirteenth of the total nitrogen voided. Owing its origin, as it does, 
to the nitrogen belonging to the undigested food on the one hand, and 
that contained in the unabsorbed intestinal secretions on the other, it is 
constantly liable to incidental variation. There is this, also, to be re- 
marked, that the nature of its source excludes it from possessing any 
relation to the question under consideration. We have, therefore, only 
the urinary excretion to look to as forming the channel through which 
the exit of nitrogen, resulting from the metamorphosis of nitrogenous 
matter in the system, takes place; and observation has shown that in 
the human subject it is mainly under the shape of urea that the escape 
occurs. 

What, now, is the state of the urine in relation to rest and exercise ? 
If muscular disintegration forms the source of muscular work, the quan- 
tity of urinary nitrogen ought to increase in proportion to the amount of 
muscular work performed. 

Lehmann, imbued with Liebig's views, as his writings show, speaks of 
there being an actual increase in the elimination of urer. '.ii proportion to 
muscular exercise, and yet he gives it as the result oi observation upon 
himself that, while under ordinary circumstances he passed about 32 
grammes (493 grains) of urea in the twenty-four hours, the quantity 
passed after severe bodily exercise was upon one occasion 36 grammes 
(555 grains), and upon another 37.4 grammes (577 grains) — only this in- 
significant disparity to correspond with the difference in the amount of 
muscular work performed. 

Voit experimented upon a dog, and determined the amount of urea 
voided during rest and the performance of mechanical work, in association 
with abstinence and a regulated diet of meat. The work imposed upon 
the dog was running in a tread-mill. The results, both during abstinence 
and feeding, exhibited no material excess in the urea voided during work 
over that voided during rest. 

Dr. E. Smith, also, in his observations on the elimination of carbonic 
acid and urea during rest and exercise, found, in the case of the prisoners 
•at Coldbath Fields, that, in the absence of food, the labor of the tread- 
wheel did not, to any material extent, increase the nitrogen discharged 
under the form of urea. Like others have done, he noticed a distinct re- 
lation between the urea discharg^ed and the food invested. At the same 
time he regarded — and this was several years ago, when our knowledge 
stood in a very different position from what it does now — the relation 



ALIMENTAKY PRINCIPLES. 29 

between the urea and muscular work as far less established then than it 
had been held to be for some time before. 

The theory that muscular work is dependent on and proportioned to 
the destruction of muscular tissue by oxidation, received its decisive blow 
from the now celebrated observations of Drs. Fick and Wislicenus, pro- 
fessors of physiology and chemistry respectively at Zurich.* These ex- 
perimentalists subjected themselves to a measurable amount of work by 
ascendincT a mountain of an ascertained height. They argued that if the 
work performed be due to destruction of muscular tissue — seeing that the 
nitroo-enous product of destruction is discharged in great part, if not en- 
tirely, with the urine — the collection of the urine, and the determination 
of its nitrogenous contents, ought to show the amount of nitrogenous 
matter destroyed. Again, as the mechanical work to be performed must 
be represented by an equivalent of chemical action to produce it, the de- 
struction of nitrogenous matter, as measured by the nitrogen appearing^ 
in the urine, ought to accord with the amount of work performed. To- 
simplify the experiment, the food consumed by the experimentalists- 
consisted solely of non-nitrogenous matter, so that the nitrogen appear- 
ing in the urine might be derived exclusively from that belonging to- 
the system. 

Drs. Fick and Wislicenus chose for ascent the Faulhorn, near the Lake 
of Brienz, in the Bernese Oberland, a steep mountain of about 2,000 metres- 
(6,561 feet) above the level of the lake, and furnished with hotel accom- 
modation on the summit, enabling them to rest over-night and make the- 
descent next dav. 

On the 30th of August, between ten minutes past five in the morning 
and twenty minutes past one in the afternoon, the ascent was made. From 
the noon of the 29th no nitrogenous food had been eaten by the experi- 
menters, their diet consisting solely of starch and fat (taken in the form 
of small cakes), and sugar as solid matter, and tea, beer, and wine as 
drink. After ascending the mountain, Drs. Fick and Wislicenus rested, 
and took no other kind of food till seven in the evening, when the}' par- 
took of a plentiful repast of meat and its usual accompaniments. 

They began to collect their urine for examination from six p.m. of the 
29th; that is, six hours after the commencement of their non-nitrogenous- 
diet. The urine secreted from this time till ten minutes past five a.m. of 
the 30th, when the ascent began, was called the " hefore-worh " urine. The 
urine secreted during the ascent was called the ^^ worh'''' urine; and that 
from twenty minutes past one p.m. to seven p.m. (from the completion of 
the ascent to the cessation of the non-nitrogenous diet) the " after-icork '* 
urine. Finally, the urine secreted during the night spent on the Faulhorn 
up to half-past five a.m. was also collected, and denominated '■'' mght^* 
urine. 

Each specimen was measured, and both the quantity of urea and the 
absolute amount of nitrogen contained in it determined. For the object 
before us it will suffice to confine our attention to the nitroo-en: and the 
quantity of this element secreted per hour (calculated from the amount 
contained in the respective specimens and the time passed in secretion), 
stood thus for the several periods: 

* On the Origin of Muscular Power, by Drs. Fick and Wislicenus : Philosophical 
Magazine (Supplement), vol. xxxi., 1866. 



30 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Quantity of Nitrogen Mccreted per Hour. 

Fick. Wislicenus. 

Grammes. Grammes. 

Before work, 0.63 0.61 

During work, 0.41 0.39 

After work, 0.40 0.40 

Night, 0.45 0.51 

A glance at these figures shows the agreement that existed in the two 
cases. The result proved that, whilst the nitrogenous excretion was re- 
lated to the food ingested, it was not so to muscular action. Less nitro- 
gen, it is noticeable, was voided during the *' work " and " after-work " 
than during the " before-work " period, and this was plainly attributable 
to the absence of nitrogenous food from the diet. During the night, 
after the meal of mixed food, there was an increase, greater in Wislice- 
nus's than in Fick's case; but the one meal did not bring the amount of 
nitrogen up to the point at which it stood shortly after the commence- 
ment of their abstinence from nitrogenous food. 

The conclusion, then, that in the first place may be drawn from this 
experiment is, that muscular work is not accompanied by the increased 
elimination of nitrogen that might be looked for if it resulted from the 
oxidation of muscle. But let us inquire whether the disintegration of 
nitrogenous matter which actually occurred during the " work " and 
" after-work " periods, as measured by the nitrogen excreted, would ac- 
count for the generation of an amount of force equivalent to that ex- 
pended in the work performed. 

Knowing that the nitrogenous matter of muscle contains — say, in 
round numbers, fifteen per cent, of nitrogen — it is easy to calculate to 
how much muscular tissue the excreted nitrogen was equivalent; and 
taking the muscular tissue thus represented, an approximate, if not an 
absolute, estimate can be given of the amount of mechanical work which 
its oxidation would be capable of performing. 

The height of the ascended mountain, likewise, being known, the 
amount of muscular force actually employed in raising the weight of the 
body to the summit can also be definitely expressed. 

We have, therefore, these data supplied: 

First. — From the nitrogen excreted the amount of nitrogenous matter 
oxidized; 

Second. — The amount of force that this oxidation would generate; and 

Third. — The expenditure of force required to raise the bodies of the 
experimenters to the height they reached. 

Now if the work performed were due to the oxidation of muscle, the 
second factor ought to equal the third; that is, the force producible from 
the muscle oxidized ought to be equivalent to the force that was expended. 
The results of the calculation, however, show, as will be presently seen, 
that the force expended considerably exceeded the amount derivable 
from the nitrogenous matter consumed. 

Nor is this all. Besides the force expended in simply raising the 
body-weights of the two men to the elevation reached, there would also 
be occurring, during the performance of the work, an expenditure of 
muscular power in keeping up the circulation, in respiratory action, and 
the other life-processes. The calculations on these points have been care- 
fully worked out by Fick and Wislicenus; and though the data for the 



ALIMENTARY PEESTCIPLES. 31 

process are scarcely precise enough to warrant our regarding the results 
as scientifically exact, still they may be admitted as affording a basis for 
a safe general conclusion to be drawn. We are also told that wherever 
a doubt existed about the data, figures were taken as favorable as was 
allowable to the old hypothesis, which referred the source of power to 
muscular oxidation. 

In giving the conclusion furnished, it is not necessary to introduce 
the details of the calculation. It will sufiice to say, that summarily stated, 
the result of the calculation showed that the measured work performed 
during the ascent exceeded by about one-half in Fick's case, and more 
than three-fourths in that of Wislicenus, the amount which it would be 
theoretically possible to realize from the amount of nitrogenous matter 
consumed. 

It has been shown by Professor Frankland * that the results of Fick 
and Wislicenus in reality afford stronger evidence than they have con- 
tended for. Fick and Wislicenus were obliged to estimate the force- value 
of the nitrogenous matter, shown by the nitrogen in the urine to have 
been destroyed in the system, from the amount of force known to be 
producible by the oxidation of its elements, because the actual deter- 
mination for the compound itself had not been made. Professor Frank- 
land, however, has since experimentally ascertained, with the calorimeter, 
the amount of energy or force evolved under the form of heat during the 
oxidation of a given quantity of nitrogenous matter, as the oxidation oc- 
curs within the living system, in which position a portion, it must be 
borne in mind, of the carbon and hydrogen escapes being consumed, on 
account of being carried off by the nitrogen in the shape of urea. Frank- 
land's results give as the actual amount of energy producible from the 
nitrogenous matter consumed in the bodies of the experimentalists, about 
half the quantity they had reckoned in their calculations. Thus, the re- 
sults tell so much the more^in Fick and Wislicenus' favor. Frankland 
considers, taking all points into consideration, that scarcely one-fifth of the 
actual energy required for the accomplishment of the work performed in 
the ascent of the mountain could have been obtained from the amount of 
muscle (nitrogenous matter) that was consumed. Assuming, therefore, 
the foregoing conclusions to be entitled to credence, the doctrine which 
ascribes muscular action to oxidation of muscular tissue becomes utterly 
untenable. 

Dr. Parkes has conducted, in a most careful manner, a series of inves- 
tigations on the influence of rest and exercise, under different diets, upon 
the effete products of the system, and, more particularly, to test the ac- 
curacy of the results arrived at by Fick and Wislicenus. He says, " Al- 
though these results (Fick and Wislicenus') are supported by the pre- 
vious experiments of Dr. Speck, who has shown that if the ingress of 
nitrogen be restricted, bodily exercise causes no or a very slight increase 
in the elimination of nitrogen by the urine, it appeared desirable to care- 
fully repeat the experiments, not only because the question is one of 
great importance, but because objections might be, and, indeed, have 
been, reasonably made to the experiments of Professors Fick and Wisli- 
cenus, on the ground that no sufficient basis of comparison between pe- 
riods of rest and exercise was given, that the periods were altogether too 
short, and that no attention was paid to the possible exit of nitrogen by 
the intestines." 

* On the Origin of Muscular Power: Philos. Magazine, vol. xxxii., 1866. 



32 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Dr. Parkes' experiments were conducted upon perfectly healthy sol- 
diers, men who, when steady and trustworthy, as were the soldiers made 
use of, form, as Dr. Parkes observes, highly suitable subjects for experi- 
ments of the kind, their regularity in diet and occupation, and their 
habits of obedience, affording a special guarantee for the precision with 
which they will carry out the instructions given. There can, indeed, be 
little or no doubt, from the harmony observable all through, that the 
results furnish as exact and reliable information as can be hoped to be 
obtained. 

The total nitrogen contained in the urine was determined, as well as 
the urea; and by this step more conclusive evidence is supplied than by 
the simple determination of urea, as had only been done in the experi- 
ments of Fick and Wislicenus and others; obviously so, because it might 
be said that nitrogen escaped (as is really to some extent the case) in 
other forms than that of urea. 

The experiments consisted of two series, and extended, in each case, 
over several successive days. In the first series * a comparison is institu- 
ted of the- products of excretion during rest and exercise under a non- 
nitrogenous diet. In the second f the same comparison is made under a 
fixed diet, containing an ordinary admixture of nitrogenous and non- 
nitroo^enous food. 

In drawing conclusions regarding the destruction of muscle from the 
nitrogen eliminated, it is, of course, of the first importance that the whole 
of the voided nitrogen should be presented to our notice. Dr. Parkes is 
convinced, from his experiments, that no nitrogen escapes either by the 
breath or perspiration, but that it is all to be found in the excreta from 
the kidneys and bowels. The nitrogen discharged by the bowels forms 
a comparatively small and varying proportion, and being derived from 
the undigested food and the unabsorbed digestive secretions, has no bear- 
ing in reference to the point before us. There remains, therefore, only the 
urinary nitrogen to consider as a measure of the tissue-metamorphosis 
occurring in the system. Thus prefaced, let us now see what light is 
thrown upon the matter under consideration by Dr. Parkes' experiments. 
For the sake of simplicity, notice will only be taken of the total urinary 
nitrogen voided, as this gives in a more reliable manner than the urea 
the information that is wanted. 

The men forming the subjects of the first series of experiments are 
distinguished as S. and T. T. was a much smaller man than S. (S. weighing 
one hundred and fifty and T. one hundred and twelve pounds), and it 
will be observed that he, throughout, passed a less amount of urinary ni- 
trogen. He did not consume quite so much food; and as it was found that 
he discharged rather more nitrogen from the intestine, it may be assumed 
that he did not so fully digest and absorb what he ingested. 

For six daj^s the men were kept upon an ordinary mixed diet, and 
pursued their customary'- occupation. The urine was collected and ex- 
amined during four out of the six days, and the following is the mean 
amount of the total nitrogen passed ^^er diem : 

Mean urinary nitrogen 
per diem. — Grammes. 

T* 1^409 

* Proceedinprs of the Royal Society, No. 89, vol. xv. , January, 1867. 
f Ibid., No. 94, vol. xvi., June, 1867. 



I 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 33 

During the following two days the diet was restricted to non-nitro- 
genous food consisting of arrow-root, sugar, and butter. The only nitro- 
gen ingested — and this may be regarded as too insignificant to require 
being taken into account — was in the tea the men were allowed to drink, 
it being thought desirable not to deprive them of this beverage. Through- 
out the two days they remained as much at rest as was practicable; they 
were allowed to get up, but not to leave the room. 

Mean urinary nitrogen 
per diem. — Grammes. 

Non-nitrogenous diet, with rest, . . . * 1 T 7 

The men were now put back, for four days, upon a mixed diet, with 
customary occupation, just as at the beginning of the experiment. 

Mean urinary nitrogen 
per diem. — Grammes. 

Mixed diet, with customary occupation, . • j T* n OQ" 

Next they were^^t^dtoa--ag^4M^^^wK^ays to the same non-nitro- 
genous food as bef/^^,\5ut tj^^jgj^^j^as dl^^>panied with active walking 
exercise. During^ tne firstp.day ^e di^ance»\mlked was 23f miles, and 
during the second 32f milelsi > TnJk alalpit is staJoed, satisfied hunger, and 
there was no sinkiu^r or craving- for other kind»x>f food. 

"s^^^'^'^iNGTON ^^•^-^'*^ Mean urinary nitrogen 

^S;;;;-^^^- j^ O 1 VJA T ^^^»^ pgj. (jjgjQ — Grammes. 

Non -nitrogenous diet, with active exercise, . •It' ^ 0^4. 

To complete the experiment, four more days were passed under obser- 
vation with the ordinary mixed diet, accompanied by ordinary exercise. 
Rather more nitrogenous food was taken during these four days succeeding 
the two days' active exercise than during the four days succeeding the two 
days' rest, the men feeling more hungry after the '^ work" period than after 
the period of " rest." The mean for T., it is mentioned, is for three days 
instead of four, one analysis having failed. 

Mean urinary nitrogen 
per diem. — Grammes. 

Mixed diet, with customary occupation, , . j rp -11^"^ 

From this series of results we find that there was no material variation 
in the amount of urinary nitrogen discharged during the two days when 
a distance of 56^ miles was walked, as compared with the two days spent 
in as complete a state of rest as possible, on both occasions restriction 
to non-nitrogenous food being enjoined. Comparing both these periods, 
however, with those in which nitrogenous food was taken, we recognize a 
marked exemplification of the well-established fact that diet, on the other 
hand, exerts a striking influence over the amount of nitrogen eliminated 
with the urine. During each of the non-nitrogenous diet periods the 
quantity of nitrogen eliminated was considerably less than during the 
others: it is also noticeable that the influence of the non-nitrogenous food 
was extended into the subsequent ordinary diet periods, less nitrogen 
being voided during these than at the commencement of the experiment, 
3 



34 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

before any restriction from nitrogenous food had been imposed. This 
point, however, will be further alluded to hereafter. 

In the second series of experiments, the amount of nitrogen elimi- 
nated was determined under the conditions of rest and exercise, combined 
with a mixed diet. One of the two men, S., was the same who had been 
made use of in the former experiment; the other, B., was a fresh man, 
weighing one hundred and forty pounds, and therefore nearer in size to S., 
"who weighed one hundred and fifty pounds, than T., of the former experi- 
ment, who weighed one hundred and twelve pounds. During the sixteen 
days over which the observations extended, each man \.ooV precisely the 
same allowance of food in the twenty-four hours: the food consisting of 
weighed quantities of meat, bread, potatoes, and the other constituents 
of an ordinary mixed diet. For the first four days the men pursued 
their customary employment. The next two days were passed in rest. 
Then followed four days of ordinary employment; after this, two days 
of active exercise; and finally, four days again of ordinary employment. 
The amount of nitrogen eliminated by the kidneys during the several 
periods is shown in the following table: 

Urinary nitrogen 
per diem. — Grammes. 

is 17 857 

S.' 19.137 
19.471 

S. 17.612 
18.485 



Rest (mean of two days), . , . . . • ) r 



Ordinary employment (mean of four days), . . • 'J R 

Active exercise — walking on level ground, 24 miles the \ W iq'q^q 
first day, and 35 the second — (mean of two days), . > ^' 9-1 ak^ 

Ordinary employment (mean of four days), . . . ( B. 20.092 

In these results it will be seen that there is nothing to sanction the 
doctrine that the source of muscular power resides in the destruction of 
muscular tissue. In two persons subsisting on an identical and unvary- 
ing daily diet, and subjected to varying conditions of muscular exertion, 
we find nearly the same quantity of nitrogen eliminated during two 
days' hard walking as during two days of rest. It is curious, and also, 
it must be owned, does not appear explicable, that during the periods of 
both rest and active exercise the daily amount of nitrogen eliminated 
was in excess of that eliminated during the first two periods of ordinary 
employment, the figures at the same time for the associated periods re- 
spectively agreeing very closely with each other. In the third period of 
ordinary employment — that is, after the two days of walking exercise — 
the nitrogen voided was greater in quantity than at any other time. 
Such excess, however, did not amount to anything particularly marked. 

Comparing in detail the nitrogen eliminated during the corresponding 
portions of the two day-periods — those of rest and active exercise — Dr. 
Parkes observes, with respect to the results furnished : *' On the first 
day of exercise, the nitrogen in each man fell below the corresponding 
day of rest by 1.626 and 1.131 grammes. In the next twelve hours, 
which were almost entirely occupied in exercise (tliis period extending 
from 8 A.M. to 8 p.m.), the diminution was still greater, being 2.498 and 
1.225 grammes, which would be equivalent to 5 and 2|- grammes for 
twentj-four hours. In the last twelve hours (8 p.m. to 8 a.m.) of rest 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. S5 

after work, the elimination increased greatly, so that 5.142 and 3.331 
grammes more were excreted than in the corresponding rest period." 
Seeking to reconcile his results in relation to muscular action, Dr. Parkes 
observes: " It appears to me that we can only express the facts by saying 
that a muscle during action appropriates more nitrogen than it gives off, 
and during rest gives off more than it appropriates." 

But must we, I would suggest, look only to the muscles for the source 
of the variation in the amount of nitrogen discharged in these experi- 
ments? The results, in the first place, conclusively sliovv that the nitro- 
gen eliminated forms no measure of muscular work performed, and hence 
it may be inferred as a corollary that muscular work is not a result of 
muscular destruction. But taking: the variation in the voided nitroo-en 
that was observable, independently of that occasioned by diet, why should 
we seek its source exclusively in the muscles ? 

On looking at the several daily amounts discharged, I remark the ex^ 
istence of instances in which considerable variation occurs within the pe- 
riods themselves. Thus, during the first day of the first period, when the 
men were engaged in ordinary employment, B. discharged 20.417 grammes 
of nitrogen, and during the third day only 17.090, a difference approach- 
ing to 3j grammes. Again, during the last period, which was also spent 
in ordinary employment (it will be remembered that the daily diet was 
the same throughout the experiment), the urinary nitrogen voided by 
both men stood as follows: 

S. B. 

GramiTies. Grammes. 

First da}^ 21.25 20.25 

Second day, 19.942 19.273 

Third day, 23.488 19.248 

Fourth day, -, . . • • 19.536 21.597 

On the third day, it thus appears, S. discharged nearly 4 grammes 
of nitrogen in excess of that on the fourth, and about 3-|-in excess of that 
on the second. No corresponding fluctuation, it will be remarked, was 
observable in the case of B. Here, then, are marked variations in the 
elimination of nitrogen without a variation of muscular action 

In a more recently performed experiment,* Dr. Parkes' results show, 
with a fixed daily ingress of nitrogen, a variation in the daily exit amount- 
ing in the extreme to seven and a half grammes. 

Now we know that the nitrogen of the urine is derivable from the 

metamorphosis of the nitrogenous ingesta within the S3^stem. It is true 

the food taken was every day the same throughout the experiment that 

has been forming the subject of consideration, but it does not follow that 

the rate of metamorphosis was every day similarly identical. Doubtless, 

like other processes of life, it is influenced by various internal conditions. 

We know also, as the result of observation in the case of starvation, that, 

notwithstanding an absence of ingoing nitrogen, an elimination of this 

element still continues, and that the nitroo-en eliminated is drawn from 
1 ■ . . . . 

the nitrogenous principles of the body, belonging alike to the solids and 

fluids. There is a general waste or loss occurring, and the only differ- 
ence noticeable is that the loss goes on with different degrees of rapidity 
in the different parts of the system. In the muscles it certainly occurs 
somewhat more rapidly than elsewhere, but this is all. With these con- 

* Proceedings of the Royal Society, March, 1871. 



36 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

siderations before us, it appears to me that we are taking an unjustifiably 
narrow view in looking only to the muscles to account for the variation 
in question in the voided nitrogen. Exercise cannot fail to influence the 
processes going on in the system generally, as well as in the muscles, and, 
in accounting for the results observed, instead of limiting ourselves, with 
Dr. Parkes, to the assertion that " we can only express the fact by saying 
that a muscle during action appropriates more nitrogen than it gives off, 
and during rest gives off more than it appropriates," I think what we 
ought rather to say is, that during exercise the system appropriates more 
nitrogen than it gives off, and during rest gives off more than it appro- 
priates. 

Voit, however, disputes the realit}'' of exercise producing any influence 
over the elimination of nitrogen, and has taken exception to some of Dr. 
Parkes' experiments, on the ground, more particularly, that the daily in- 
gress of nitrogen could not be kept sufficiently stable. This elicited from 
Dr. Parkes his further series, the results of which are recorded in the 
" Proceedings of the Royal Society " for March, 1871. In these it appeared 
that there was no change induced, either at the time or afterward, by a 
moderate amount of additional exercise under a mixed regulated diet; 
but, under a non-nitrogenous diet, the increase in the nitrogen on the fol- 
lowing day to the performance of a hard day's march was exceedingly 
strikino-. The non-nitroo;enous diet was continued throuo-h five successive 
days. During the first three it was associated with the ordinary work of 
a soldier; on the fourth, with a march of thirty-two miles, performed with 
a load of 43^ lbs.; and on the fifth with rest. As the ordinary result of 
abstinence from nitrogenous food, the eliminated urinary nitrogen under- 
went a steady decrease during the first four days; on the fifth, however, 
it showed a marked ascent, the amount being then in considerable excess 
of that discharged on the first. 

In the N'eio York Medical Journal for October, 1870, Dr. Austin 
Flint, Jun., records the result of the examination of the urine secreted 
during the performance of, perhaps, an unprecedented amount of muscular 
work within the space of time occupied. A Mr. Weston, aged thirty-two, 
of medium height, and weighing ordinarily 122 lbs. without his clothes, 
celebrated as a pedestrian of the United States, undertook to perform 
the astonishing feat of walking one hundred miles in twenty-two consec- 
utive hours. The feat, it appears, was accomplished within the time — 
namely, in twenty-one hours and thirty-nine minutes. The food con- 
sumed during the period was taken in small quantities at short intervals, 
and consisted of between one and two bottles of beef-essence, two bot- 
tles of oatmeal-gruel, and sixteen to twenty raw eggs, with water. Mr. 
Weston drank, it is said, a little lemonade and took water very frequently, 
but only in quantity sufficient to rinse his mouth. While walking the 
last ten miles he took, it is further stated, two or three mouthfuls of 
champagne, amounting to about three fluid ounces, and about two and a 
half fluid ounces of brandy in ten-drop doses. The head and face were 
sponged freely at short intervals, and the food and drink were taken 
mainly on the walk, which was conducted within a covered enclosure. 

The urine passed during and at the completion of the walk measured 
73|- fluid ounces, and presented the specific gravity of 1011. According 
to Dr. Flint's analysis it contained 424f grains of urea. Now 500 grains 
form about the average daily quantity of urea discharged under an ordi- 
nary mixed diet; and as the diet during the performance of the pedestrian 
feat was rich, as the account shows it to have been, in nitrogenous mat- 



ALIMENTAET PRINCIPLES. 



37 



ter, the quantity of urea, apart from any other consideration, was even 
less than might have been expected. And yet, on the strength of a com- 
parison with another examination of the urine conducted three months 
later, when only 191 grains of urea are stated to have been discharged in 
the absence of exposure to muscular exertion. Dr. Flint argues that 
muscular exercise notably increases the elimination of urea. To take a 
solitary result of so exceptional a kind as the discharge of only 191 grains 
of urea in the twenty-four hours, and use it as a ground of comparison for 
reasoning upon, as Dr. Flint has done, is surely to violate all rules of 
sound induction, and it is to be hoped that we shall not find the observa- 
tion quoted by writers as bearing out what Dr. Flint has contended 
for. 

During November, 1870, Mr. Weston undertook another pedestrian 
feat, and this time a very elaborate examination was made of the ingesta 
and egesta, and of various conditions of the body, by Dr. Flint and a 
staff of associates. The results are recorded in detail in the New York 
Medical Journal for June, 1871. The feat proposed was to walk 400 
miles in five consecutive days, and upon one of the days 112 miles were 
to be walked in twenty-four consecutive hours. Mr. Weston commenced 
the undertaking on the 21st of November. The examination of the in- 
gesta, egesta, etc., had been conducted for five days before; it was also 
carried on during the five days of the walk, and continued for five days 
afterward. Thus, the result for three periods — before, during, and 
after the walk — were obtained. The subjoined tabular representation 
will give a summary view of the leading points noted. The walk was un- 
dertaken over a measured track, marked out in the form of a parallelo- 
gram, within a large covered space — namely, the Empire Skating Rink in 
New York. It appears that Mr. Weston failed this time to accomplish 
the feat he had attempted, the distance walked during the five days 
amounting to 317^ miles, and the greatest distance on any one day to 92 
miles. 

Notwithstanding the figures to be presented. Dr. Flint still holds to 
his former opinion, and looks upon the results as showing, to use his own 
words, that " excessive and prolonged muscular exertion increases enor- 
mously the excretion of nitrogen, and that the excess of nitrogen dis- 
charged is due to an increased disassimilation of the muscular sub- 
stance." 



De. Fleet's Observations on the Effects of the Five-day Pedestrian 
Feat Performed hy Mb. Weston. 

BEFORE THE WALK. 



First day, 
Second day, 
Third day, 
Fourth day, 
Fifth day, 



Weight of 


Tem- 




Miles 


Nitrogen 


Nitrogen 


body (nude). 


perature. 




walked. 


in ingesta. 


in egesta. 


Lbs. 


Deg.Fahr. 






Grains. 


Grains. 


120.5 


99.7 


75 


15 


361.22 


323.26 


121.25 


98.4 


73 


5 


288.35 


301.18 


120 


98.0 


71 


5 


272.27 


330.36 


118.5 


99.1 


78 


15 


335.01 


300.57 


119.2 


99.5 


93 


1 


440.43 


320.06 i 

1 



Excess or deficiency 
in nitrogen egested. 



Grains. 

37.96 
12.83 
58.09 
34.44 
120.37 



38 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



DTJBING THE WAIiK. 



First day, 
Second day, 
Third day, 
Fourth day. 
Fifth day, 



Weight of 
body (nude). 


Tem- 
perature. 


Pulse. 


Miles 
walked. 


Nitrogen 
in ingesta. 


Nitrogen 
in egesta. 


Lba. 

116.5 


Deg. Fahr. 

95.3 


98 


80 


Grains. 

151.55 


Grains. 

357.10 


116.25 


94.8 


93 


48 


265.92 


370.64 


115 


96.6 


109 


92 


228.61 


397.58 


114 


96.6 


68 


57 


144.70 


348.53 


115.75 


97.9 


80 


40.5 


383.04 


332.77 



Excess or deficiency 
in nitrogen egested. 



Grains. 

205.55 
104.72 
168.97 
203.83 
50.27 



AFTER THE WAIiK. 



First day. 


118 


98.6 


76 


2 


385.65 


295.70 


- 89.95 


Second day, . 


120.25 


98.4 


73 


2 


499.10 


358.81 


- 140.29 


Third day, . . 


120.25 


99.3 


70 


2 


394.83 


409.87 


+ 15.04 


Fourth day, . 


123.5 


98.8 


78 


2 


641.71 


382.89 


- 258.82 


Fifth day, . . 


120.75 


97.5 


76 


3 


283.35 


418.49 


+ 135.14 



Let us accept Dr. Flint's estimates of the ingoing and outgoing nitro- 
gen. It is true, during the first four days of the walking period the 
exit of nitrogen was in considerable excess of the entrance; but why 
should this be referred specially and exclusively to muscular disintegra- 
tion ? There was during these few days a progressive decline in the 
weight of the body, the loss reaching a little over five pounds. From the 
account given, considerably less solid food was taken then than before 
and after. There existed a state of marked disturbance of the bodily 
functions, as shown by the depression of temperature and elevation of 
pulse; but little sleep was obtained; and on the third day, when an 
attempt was made to walk the one hundred and twelve miles in twenty- 
four consecutive hours, drowsiness, it is stated, prevailed to such an ex- 
tent that it was found impossible to make the necessary time to accom- 
plish what had been intended. On the fourth day Mr. Weston actually 
broke down for a time altogether, becoming dizzy, staggering, and at last 
failing to be able to see sufficiently to turn the corners of the track. 

Now, apart from the fact that a marked deviation from the physiolog- 
ical state existed when the results upon which the conclusions are based 
were yielded, is there anything in the results to show that in reality we 
have more to deal with than simply a consumption of nitrogenous material 
within the system beyond the supply for the time from without ? Taking 
the figures throughout, there is not much more to be seen than a differ- 
ence occasioned by a falling off in the amount of nitrogen ingested dur- 
ing the first four days of the walk; and it is well known that when the 
ingesta do not furnish what is wanted for meeting the expenditure going 
on (as during inanition), the resources of the body are drawn upon, and 
the nitrogenous matter existing in the various parts — both solids and 
fluids — wastes or yields itself up as well as the rest. On the fifth day, 
after a prolonged sleep, which appears to have restored the flagging 
powers, the previous relation was reversed. The food ingested afforded 
more than enough to meet the requirements. There was a gain of If 
pound in body-weight, and, according to the figures, the nitrogen dis- 



ALIMENTAEY PETNCIPLES. 39 

charged fell short by 50.27 grains of that which entered, notwithstanding 
a walk of forty and a half miles was performed. 

The distance walked during the five days amounted to 317-g- miles, 
and the excess of nitrogen eliminated during the time, over that ingested, 
appears to have been 633 grains. Presuming, for sake of argument, this 
to have represented the nitrogen of muscle disintegrated in the accom- 
plishment of the work performed, we have before us the data for ascer- 
taining how far the force producible in this way would correspond with 
the expenditure that must have occurred. 

According to Mulder's analysis, albuminous matter contains 15.5 per 
cent, of nitrogen. Reckoning from this proportion, 633 grains of nitro- 
gen will correspond with 4,083 grains of dry albumen, and the composi- 
tion of the nitrogenous matter of muscle is closely analogous. Now the 
force producible from the oxidation of albuminous matter has been experi- 
mentally ascertained by Frankland, and as it occurs within the body, the 
oxidation of 4,083 grains of dry albumen would give rise to the evolution 
of an amount of power equal to lifting 1,540 tons one foot high. 

Here we have one side of the question — the amount of work obtain- 
able from the nitrogenous matter presumed to have undergone disinte- 
gration as muscular tissue; and so far the information in our possession 
may be regarded as sufficiently authentic to enable us to frame a reliable 
conclusion. As regards the work accomplished, we may assume, with 
Professor Haughton, that the force expended in walking or progressing 
on level ground is equal to that required to lift one-twentieth of the 
weight of the body through the distance traversed. The distance walked 
amounted to 317-2- miles, and if we take the weight of the body and cloth- 
ing at, say, 120 pounds, this will give the performance of an amount of 
work equal to lifting 4,490 tons one foot high, or about two-thirds more 
work than the oxidation of the nitrogenous matter representing the 633 
grains of nitrogen could accomplish. And, in this calculation, only the 
external work has been taken into consideration. There is, in reality, 
also a considerable amount of internal work constantly being performed — 
viz., that employed in keeping up the circulation, in respiration, and in 
various other essential actions of life. 

I have entered thus minutely into the question of the elimination of 
nitrogen in relation to muscular work because it bears in so forcible and 
direct a manner upon the question immediately before us, viz., the uses to 
which the nitrogenous alimentary principles are applied in the system. 
Briefly represented, the position of the matter may be said to be this: 

Many years ago it was asserted by Liebig that muscular action in- 
volved the destruction of muscular tissue. The plausibility of the doc- 
trine, and the readiness with which the views of its author were then 
received, must be considered as having led to its being at once generally 
accepted as though it formed a scientific truth, although, in reality, only 
constituting a speculative proposition, unsupported by anything of the 
nature of proof. It was further argued that, if muscular action involved 
the destruction of muscular tissue, the excretion of the nitrogenous pro- 
duct of destruction — urea — ought to be in proportion to the amount of 
muscular work performed. This seemed to follow as a necessary se- 
quence, and the one being accepted, the other was taken for granted also. 
Thus, notwithstanding the absence of anything in the shape of proof, we 
find physiologists reasoning and writing as though the doctrine had been 
actually proved. 

If the theory of Liebig were true, we should have to look upon nitro- 



40 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

genous alimentary matter as forming", through the medium of muscular 
tissue, the source, the only source, of muscular power. The renewal of 
muscular tissue for subsequent oxidation in its turn, and evolution of mus- 
cular force, would thus constitute one of the functions of nitrogenous 
alimentary matter; and on its supply would, accordingly, depend our 
capacity for the performance of muscular work. 

It is only lately that the doctrine has been submitted to the test of ex- 
periment, and with what result the foregoing account of the researches 
of various observers has shown. Even Liebio^* was brought to assert 
that muscular action is not attended by the production of urea. He ad- 
mitted that the question as to the source of muscular power had been 
complicated by an inference which had proved erroneous, and for which 
he acknowledged himself as responsible — the inference, namely, that 
muscular work is represented by the metamorphosis of muscular tissue, 
and the formation of urea as a final product. While admitting this much, 
however, Liebig still looked to changes in the nitrogenous constituents 
of muscle as the source of muscular power. He assumed the presence in 
muscle of nitrogenous substances in a much higher state of tension than 
syntonine and albumen, and to these he referred the performance of 
muscular work, taking shelter under the proposition that it is due to the 
liberation of the tension thus presumed to have been accumulated in 
them during their formation. 

The application of food to the genesis of muscular power will form 
the subject of further consideration hereafter, when we reach the head of 
non-nitroffenous matter. Suffice it here to reiterate that muscular action 
is not to be considered as the result of muscle-destruction, as was for- 
merly supposed, and hence that nitrogenous matter is not applied through 
muscle — in the manner hitherto maintained — to the development of 
muscular force. Thus much, from the evidence before us, may be said, 
but, at the same time, common experience seems to show that a plenti- 
ful supply of nitrogenous matter in the food tends to increase the capa- 
city for the performance of muscular work. If, however, it does so in any 
other way than by supplying material for nutrition and the secretions, 
and so contributing to the production of a fully nourished and vigorous 
state of the system, we have no data before us to indicate how. 

Let me next draw attention to the application of nitrogenous matter 
to force-production by the direct utilization of the carbon and hydrogen 
it contains. Liebig's doctrine, which, until recently, has formed the ac- 
cepted one on this point, was that nitrogenous food, to be turned to 
account for force-production, ^nust pass through the condition of living 
tissue. This brings us back to the discussion that has preceded, with the 
addition that our nitrogenous food must perform work as tissue to enable 
it to be susceptible of application to force, or — say — heat-production. 
Thus, in his work on " Animal Chemistry," at page 60, Liebig says, " the 
flesh and blood consumed as food yield their carbon for the support of the 
respiratory process, whilst the nitrogen appears as uric acid, ammonia, or 
urea. But, previously to these final changes, the dead flesh and blood 
become converted into living flesh and blood, and it is, strictl}'' speaking, 
the carbon of the compounds formed in the metamorphosis of living tis- 
sues that serves for the production of animal heat." Again, at page 77, 
we find: *' Man wlien confined to animal food respires like the carnivora 

♦ Proceedings of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Science, 1869 ; Pharmaceutical 
Journal, 1870. 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 41. 

at the expense of the matter produced by the metamorphosis of organized 
tissues; and just as the lion, tiger, and hyena, in the cages of a menage- 
rie, are compelled to accelerate the waste of their organized tissues by in- 
cessant motion, in order to furnish the matter necessary for respiration, 
so the savage, for the very same object, is forced to make the most labo- 
rious exertions and go through a vast amount of muscular exercise. He 
is compelled to consume force merely in order to supply matter for respi- 
ration." Once more, in speaking of the derivation of urea from the met- 
amorphosis of nitrogenous matter, he says, at page 144: " There can be no 
greater contradiction with regard to the nutritive process than to suppose 
that the nitrogen of the food can pass into the urine as urea, without 
having previously become part of an organized tissue." 

Liebig's idea, then, upon this point is very precise. Reconsiders that 
nitrogenous matter may contribute toward heat-production, but that it 
must first pass into the condition of tissue before it can do so, and that 
it is in the wear and tear of tissue that occurs the splitting up of the 
compound, so as to lead to the production of urea for secretion on the 
one hand, and the liberation of carbon and hydrogen for oxidation on the 
other. 

The facts which have been already adduced, suffice to refute this doc- 
trine. Indeed, it may be considered as now abundantly proved that food 
does not require to become organized tissue before it can be rendered 
available for force-production. But Liebig himself, in language not less 
precise than that which he at first employed, has recently * given utter- 
ance to words which directly contradict his original view, inasmuch as he 
now asserts that muscular work and the production of urea bear no im- 
mediate relation to each other, and that among the products formed as the 
result of muscular action, urea certainly does not even constitute one. 

If the elimination of urea, as has been shown, is not related, as was 
formerly supposed, to muscular action, it is, on the other hand, in a very 
direct manner influenced by the food ingested. As far back as 1854, 
Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, in opposition to the views then prevailing, 
showed by the results obtained in their observations on the feeding of 
cattle, that the nitrogen in the urine is related to that in the food, and 
not to the muscular work; and, since then, the concurrent testimony of 
numerous observers, as has been already pointed out, may be held as com- 
pletely establishing this position. Lehmann's well-known experiments 
upon himself strikingly illustrate the extent to which this influence is 
manifested. The results he obtained were as follows: 

While living on a purely animal diet, namely, almost exclusively on 
eggs, Lehmann passed 53.2 grammes (820 grains) of urea in the twenty- 
four hours as the mean of twelve observations. 

Upon a mixed diet, the urea amounted to 32.5 grammes (501 grains) 
as the mean of fifteen observations. 

Upon a vegetable diet, the urea given as the mean of twelve observa- 
tions was 22.5 grammes (347 grains). 

And, lastly, upon a purely non-nitrogenous diet (fat, sugar of milk, 
and starch) he voided, as the mean of three observations, only 15.4 
grammes (237 grains) of urea. 

It is thus seen that upon an animal diet, which is the richest in nitro- 
genous matter, the voided urea more than doubled that eliminated upon 
a vegetable diet, while the amount of urea voided upon a mixture of the 

* Proceedings of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, 1869. 



42 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



two kinds of food held an intermediate position. When no nitrogenous 
matter was ingested, the area was at its minimum. What was then 
passed would be derived from the metamorphosis of the nitrogenous mat- 
ter belonging to the blood and the other constituents of the system. 

Some experiments of Schmidt show, also, in accordance with the re- 
sults obtained by Lehmann, that the amount of urea passed is related to 
the quantity of food ingested, the nature of it remaining the same. 
Schmidt found that a cat excreted the following relative amounts of 
urea to body-weight under the consumption of different amounts of meat: 



Daily amount of 
meat eaten. 
Grammes. 

44.188 . 

46.154 . 

75.938 . 

108.755 . 



Daily amount of urea excreted 
per kilogramme body-weight. 
Grammes. 

. 2.958 

. 3.050 

. 5.152 

. 7.663 



From these results it may be computed that a cat, living on a flesh 
diet, discharges by the kidneys on an average 6.8 parts of urea for every 
hundred parts of meat consumed. 

The great bulk of the nitrogen belonging to the food ingested, thus 
passes out of the system in the form of urea. If all escaped in this way 
the quantity of urea discharged would amount to (say) 7.88 per cent, of 
the weight of the meat: the nitrogen contained in 100 parts of flesh corres- 
ponding with that contained in 7.88 parts of urea. There were, then, 
6.8 parts of urea produced instead of the 7.88 parts, which may be spoken 
of as representing the actual equivalent, as far as contained nitrogen is 
concerned, of 100 parts of flesh. 

Lehmann, from his observations on himself, asserts that as much as 
five-sixths of the nitrosfen of the inofested food were found in his urine 
under the form of urea. For example, while living upon a purely animal 
diet, consisting of thirty-two eggs daily, he ingested about 30.16 grammes 
of nitrogen, and, in the urea voided, discharged about 25 grammes of ni- 
trogen. 

The discharge of urea being thus proportioned to the amount of the 
nitrogenous matter ingested, it follows that nitrogenous matter must 
undergo metamorphosis of such a nature within the system as to lead to 
the production of urea. Further, it may be said that this metamorphosis 
must take place rapidly, as it is found that the effect upon the excretion 
of urea quickly follows an alteration in the food ingested. Lehmann, for 
example, again drawing from his observations on himself, noticed in the 
morning, after he had lived exclusively on animal food, that his urine was 
so rich in urea as to throw down a copious precipitate of the nitrate on 
the addition of nitric acid. In Dr. Parkes' observations, also, upon the 
two soldiers S. and T., before referred to, the alterations in the food in- 
gested speedily influenced the amount of urea escaping. These men were, 
flrst of all, kept for four days upon a regulated mixed diet; next, for two 
days upon anon-nitrogenous diet; then again for four days upon a mixed 
diet; afterward for two days on a non-nitrogenous diet; and, lastly, for 
four davs on a mixed diet. S. durine" the first four davs on the mixed diet 
passed 35 grammes of urea as the daily mean. During the first day of the 
non-nitrogenous diet he passed 20, and during the second, 13.52 grammes. 
Resuming the mixed diet, he passed on the first day, 20.67; on the second, 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 43 

25.68; on the third, 26.29; and on the fourth, 29.67 grammes of urea. 
Changing again to the non-nitrogenous diet, he passed on the first day 
19.12, and on the second, 15 grammes of urea. On the next four days, 
the diet being a mixed one, he passed, during the first day, 20.8; the 
second, 26.36; the third, 28.32; and the fourth, 30.10 grammes of urea. 
With T. (a much smaller man than S.) the mean for" the first four days 
of mixed food was 25.92 grammes of voided urea. During the next two 
davs, upon non-nitrogenous food, he passed on the first day, 17.3; and 
on the second, 12.65 grammes. On the following four days, upon a diet 
of mixed food, he voided 14.40 the first day; 23 the second; 25.20 the 
third; and 22.99 grammes the fourth. During the next two days, resuming 
the non-nitrogenous diet, he voided 16 the first day, and 13.20 grammes 
the second. With a return to a mixed diet, during the following four 
days the urea stood at 23 on the first; 24.36 on the second; 24.57 on 
the third: and 21.36 grammes on the fourth. 

• • • • 

Although conducted for settling another point, it will be seen that 
these observations very clearly and consistently throughout show that 
the production and elimination of urea are speedily affected by the inges- 
tion of nitrogenous matter. 

With the view of obtaining more precise information regarding the 
time required for the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter to occur and 
lead to an increased elimination of urea, Mr. Mahomed, whilst formerly 
assisting me in my laboratory, carried out, with laudable zeal and self- 
denial, two series of experiments upon himself, the particulars of which I 
will introduce here. It may be mentioned that he was twenty-two years 
of age, 6 feet in height, and list. lllb. in weight. 

The method of procedure had recourse to was to diminish the elimin- 
ation of urea by limiting in one experiment, and withholding in the other, 
the introduction of nitrogenous matter, and then note within what space 
of time the ingestion of nitrogenous matter showed its effects upon the 
urine. 

The first experiment was commenced on April 16, 1871. Mr. Ma- 
homed had been previously living upon an ordinary mixed diet, and 
took his dinner of mixed food, as usual, at 1.30 p.m. From this time he 
restricted himself to rice, arrow-root, butter, sugar, and tea. Rice was 
allowed that he might not suffer too much privation, and as being one of 
the least nitrogenous of the natural food products. The diet was contin- 
ued throughout the 17th, and at 8 a.m. on the 18th, four eggs — purposely 
to supply nitrogenous matter — were eaten. This was the only deviation 
from the diet of the preceding day, so that an opportunity was given for 
the urea to be again at a low point on the following morning, when a 
meal, consisting mainly of meat, was taken. On page 44 is a represen- 
tation of the results obtained, arranged in a tabular form. 

On looking at the results obtained, it appears that under the restricted 
diet the urea pretty steadily decreased in amount from 21 to 9.05 grains 
per hour. The ingestion of four eggs caused an ascent, within the four 
succeedino^ hours, to 13.82 grains, and havinof thus immediately risen, the 
rate of elimination only underwent a little further increase through the 
remainder of the day. The urea having again descended to 10.62 grains 
per hour by the following morning, the ingestion of a meal in which 
steak was eaten plentifully, led to a rise for the next four hours to 21.16 
grains per hour, and, with the repetition of the nitrogenous food, the 
elimination of urea continued to increase throughout the day. 



44 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



o* 




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ALIMENTAKY PRINCIPLES. 



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46 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

During the performance of the experiment the accustomed mental 
and bodily work was undertaken. Mr. Mahomed did not notice that the 
2^ days' dietetic restriction produced any other sensation than an in- 
crease of the appetite and a slight feeling of faintness experienced the 
last morning before breakfast. The urine, before the experiment, had 
been frequently noticed to be loaded with lithates. During the period of 
restricted diet it was perfectly clear, and the table shows that the quan- 
tity was considerably larger than whilst animal food was being con- 
sumed. It is a noteworthy fact, indeed, and one which gives increased 
weight to the results, that the augmented elimination of urea was associ- 
ated with a fall in the amount of urine, for, had the quantity of urine been 
increased instead, it might have been questioned whether the alterations 
in the urea might not have been simply due to more being carried off as 
a consequence of the greater urinary flow. 

In the second experiment a complete restriction (excepting the insig- 
nificant amount of nitrogenous matter contained in the tea) from nitro- 
genous food was practised for two days, and then the diet suddenly 
changed to one rich in nitrogenous matter. To begin the experiment, 
an observation was made for one day upon ordinary food. The table on 
page 45 shows the results obtained. 

It will be seen that the results harmonize with those obtained in the 
first experiment, and show that the ingestion of nitrogenous matter is 
followed by a speedy metamorphosis and production of urea. Under the two 
days' restriction to non-nitrogenous food the urea fell from a range of 21 to 
25 grains per hour to 8.87 grains per hour. Nitrogenous food was now 
taken, and the form of egg and milk beaten together was selected, that, on 
account of its fluidity, absorption might be rapid. Half an hour later an 
ordinary breakfast with cold meat was eaten. During the three hours 
succeeding the first ingestion of nitrogenous matter, the urea secreted 
amounted to 12.43 grains per hour against 8.87 grains per hour, the mean 
amount given for the eight hours previously. During the next three 
hours it stood at 14.13 grains per hour, and afterward showed a steady 
increase throughout the day. It is true between 8.87 and 12.43 grains 
per hour there is not the difference that was noticeable on the morning 
of April 19th in the first experiment; but I think it may be fairly as- 
sumed that evidence is afforded of the production and elimination of urea 
within the three hours from the nitrogenous matter ingested at the com- 
mencement of the time. Throughout the day the urea was less in quan- 
tity than during the corresponding period in the first experiment, which 
may be due to the more complete restriction having led to a greater ex- 
haustion of nitrogenous matter, and thereby, owing to the greater de- 
mand for the requirements of the system, a less surplus having existed 
for metamorphosis into urea and the complemental hydrocarbonaceous 
portion. 

For supplying solid food during the restriction, the arrow-root was 
made into biscuits with butter, sugar, and water. Mr. Mahomed remarked, 
on rising on the morning of the 7th, that he felt depressed, and experi- 
enced a general want of tone. Before the meal in the middle of the day 
he felt very hungry and thirsty, but these sensations disappeared after 
partaking of a basin of arrow-root, two of his arrow-root biscuits, and a 
cup of tea. He walked afterward between five and six miles without any 
distress. Between the 5th and the 8th he lost one pound in weight. The 
urine, it may be observed, as in the first experiment, underwent a marked 
diminution in quantity with the return to nitrogenous food. It is a note- 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 47 

worthy point that between noon and midnight of the second day's restric- 
tion the urine presented an alkaline reaction. The same feeling of weak- 
ness was experienced upon rising on the morning of the 8th as on that of 
the preceding day. 

Although it has been clearly ascertained that a more or less large 
proportion of the nitrogenous matter ingested undergoes metamorphosis 
attended with the production of urea, yet, as to the precise seat of 
metamorphosis, our information at present warrants, it must be said, lit- 
tle more than a surmise being formed. According to the old doctrine of 
muscular action, the chief portion was thought to be produced in tlie 
muscles; but even Liebig now argues (abstractedly from the doctrine in 
question) that the absence of urea as a constituent of muscular tissue 
may be taken as affording presumptive evidence of its production occur- 
ring elsewhere. While absent from flesh, or if present only so to a 
barely appreciable extent, it is, according to Meissner and others, to be 
detected in mammals in considerable quantity in the substance of the 
liver; and in birds, where uric acid holds the position of urea, this has 
been similarly found in the liver. Other considerations have been also 
advanced in support of the liver forming the seat of metamorphosis of 
nitrogenous matter attended with the production of urea, but the point 
is one which requires to be further investigated. 

Having brought the subject before us to this point, the next question 
for consideration is. What purpose is subserved by the metamorphosis of 
nitroGTenous matter that has been shown to occur ? 

It has been hitherto the custom to look upon the nitrogenous matter 
which undergoes this transformation as holding the position of superflu- 
ous alimentary material — "luxus consumption," as it has been styled. 
Thus, Lehmann writes : In the present state of our knowledge we may 
say that urea is formed in the blood, and that it is produced from mate- 
rials which have become effete — the detritus of the tissues — as well as 
from unserviceable and superfluous nitrogenous substances in the blood." 
As albumen fails under natural circumstances to pass off as such from 
the system, it was thought that, when introduced in excess of the require- 
ments of nutrition, it underwent a retrograde metamorphosis of such a 
nature as would admit of the escape of its elements. It is perfectly true 
that the process which occurs does constitute a retrograde metamorpho- 
sis; but the question presents itself whether it is simply designed as 
a means of exit of surplus matter, or whether it is not preparatory to 
some useful purpose being fulfilled by a part of the nitrogenous com- 
pound. 

The fundamental fact to be dealt with is, that nitrogenous matter 
undergoes a metamorphosis in the system attended with the production 
of urea. Now let us look at the chemical constitution of these bodies, 
and see what this transformation implies. The percentage composition 
and chemical formulae are at our disposal to appeal to, but the former is 
the most suitable for our purpose; for although the atomic constitution 
of urea has been agreed upon, yet, as regards the albuminous molecule, 
it cannot be considered that we know with any degree of certainty the 
exact number of atoms of the different elements belono^ino: to it, much 
less the precise mode in which these atoms are grouped. The formula, 
therefore, that can be given for it is only hypothetical. The percentage 
composition, however, has been ascertained with sufficient precision to 
serve as a trustworthy basis for the calculation about to be made, and the 
deduction to be drawn from it. 



48 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Let us take, for our calculation, Mulder's analysis of albumen, which 
is as follows: 



Carbon, .... 


53.5 


Hydrogen, 


7.0 


Nitrogen, 


. . . . . 15.5 


Oxygen, .... 


22.0 


Sulphur, ...» 


1.6 


Phosphorus, 


0.4 



100.0 



On looking at these figures, it will be seen that the nitrogen belong- 
ing to albumen amounts to 15.5 parts in 100. Now, let us suppose, as it 
is not very far from being actually the case, that the whole of the nitro- 
gen of the ingoing albumen escapes from the system under the form of 
urea. In thus escaping as urea, the nitrogen carries with it a certain por- 
tion of the other constituent elements of albumen, and by ascertaining 
of what this portion consists, we shall see what remains behind to be dis- 
posed of in another way. 

To obtain the information required, we must first be in possession of 
a knowledge of the relative proportion in which the elements exist in 
urea. This is supplied by its percentage composition, which stands as 
follows: 



Carbon, 
Hydrogen, . 
Nitrogen, 
Oxygen, 



20.000 

6.666 

46.667 

26.667 

100.000 



Now, to give to 15.5 parts of nitrogen (the quantity of nitrogen existing 
in one hundred parts of albumen) the due proportion of the other elements 
required to form urea, we shall have to supply 6.64 parts of carbon, 2.21 of 
hydrogen, and 8.85 of oxygen. In other words, the 15.5 parts of nitro- 
gen contained in 100 of albumen, in escaping as urea, will carry with it 
6.64 parts of carbon, 2.21 of hydrogen, and 8.85 of oxygen ; leaving a residu- 
ary portion, consisting, of 46.86 parts of carbon, 4.79 of hydrogen, and 
13.15 of oxygen, besides the sulphur and phosphorus, for utilization and 
exit in another way. Thus 33.20 per cent, (or, as nearly as possible, one- 
third) of the albumen will be turned into urea, and 66.80 per cent, (or, as 
nearly as possible, two-thirds) of complemental matter will be left. 

Urea must be regarded as constituting the unutilizable portion of the 
albuminous principle. Whether it is formed as a primary product of the 
splitting up of albumen — that is, whether the elements at once group 
themselves from the albuminous compound into the combination repre- 
senting it — or whether it forms the final product of a series of changes, 
cannot be stated. From comparing the egesta with the ingesta we know 
that it is produced. But what constitute the actual steps of metamor- 
phosis within the system remains for physiological chemistry to disclose. 

It may be remarked incidentally that, taking urea as an eifete pro- 
duct of the metamorphosis of albuminous matter within the system, and 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 49 

looking" at its composition under a certain point of view, we discern a re- 
lation to other products of the decomposition of nitrogenous matter that 
does not suggest itself on looking at its composition' as ordinarily repre- 
sented. Carbonic acid, ammonia, and water are the final products into 
which all nitrogenous matter of an organic nature is constantly tending 
to resolve itself. Now the formula for urea is C^H^N^O, [CH^N^O], which 
is equivalent to two atoms of carbonate of ammonia minus two atoms of 
water (2NH3CO,-2HO = C,N„N,OJ [(H^NJ C03-2Hp=CH^Np]. 
Its composition is, therefore, not exactly that of carbonate of ammonia, 
but we have onlv to add the elements of water to o^et the formula for 
carbonic acid and ammonia — two of the products into which, as we have 
seen, the nitrogenous matter tends by ordinary decomposition to resolve 
itself. It may further be remarked that not only does the above-indi- 
cated relation exist as to composition, but urea and carbonate of ammo- 
nia are mutually convertible, with the greatest facility, the one into the 
other. Urea, indeed, is very prone, under the influence of the action of 
heat, acids, alkalies, and decomposing organic matter, to pass into car- 
bonate of ammonia, and, conversely, it has been somewhat recently dis- 
covered that carbonate of ammonia, when subject to a high tempera- 
ture in a closed receptacle, is transformed into urea. It is, to say the 
least, a notable and significant fact that the above-mentioned relation 
should exist between carbonic acid and ammonia — final products of the 
ordinary decomposition of nitrogenous matter — and urea, a product de- 
signed for excretion arising from the metamorphosis of nitrogenous mat- 
ter within the livino- system. It is not difficult to see why the unutiliz- 
able portion of nitrogenous alimentary matter should pass oif under the 
form of urea, and not of carbonate of ammonia. It would scarcely be 
compatible with life that a powerful irritant like carbonate of ammonia 
should be produced to any extent within the animal system, while urea 
presents itself as a neutral body, quite destitute of irritating properties, 
and, therefore, an eligible compound as a product of metamorphosis for 
excretion. 

The residual portion of an albuminous compound, after the separation 
of the nitrogen with the necessary quantities of the other elements to 
form urea, amounts, as has already been shown, to 66.80 per cent, of the 
whole. This consists of 46.86 parts of carbon, 4.79 of hydrogen, and 
13.15 of oxygen, with small quantities of sulphur and phosphorus, which, 
in reference to the point now about to be discussed, viz., the application 
of this portion to force-production, may be left out of the question. It 
will be seen that we have here to deal with a considerable surplus of car- 
bon and hydrogen, which represents latent force. 

The 13.15 parts of oxygen will appropriate 1.64 parts of the hydrogen 
to exhaust its oxidizing capacity in combination as water. Reckoning 
this amount of hydrogen, then, as appropriated by the oxygen present, 
we shall have 3.15 parts of hydrogen and 46.86 parts of carbon in a free 
state for undero^oino; oxidation. 

It thus appears, if we take away the nitrogen and the elements it 
carries off as urea, and also abstract from the hydrogen the amount which 
the residual oxygen would oxidize, that from 100 parts of albumen there 
remain 46.86 parts of carbon and 3.15 parts of hydrogen free to undergo 
chemical combination with oxygen supplied from without. These quan- 
tities of carbon and hydrogen will require, for their conversion into car- 
bonic acid and water, 150 parts of oxygen, and this is tantamount to say- 
ing, according to the calculation given, that one hundred parts of albumen 
4 



50 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



will be capable of consuming this quantity of oxygen in undergoing oxi- 
dation. As the force produced is in proportion to the amount of chemical 
action, we may measure the value of different articles for force-produc- 
tion by the amount of oxygen they will relatively consume in undergoing 
complete oxidation. Regarded in this light, albumen stands in the fol- 
lowing position in relation to grape-sugar (anhydrous C^.^Hj^O^^ [CJI^^ 
O^]), starch, and fat: 

Amount of oxygen appropriated 
in oxidizing 100 parts as con- 
sumed within the body. 

Grape-sugar (anhydrous), . , , . .106 
Starch, ........ 120 

Albumen, . . . , . . . . 150 

Fat, 293 

Thus, as a force-producing agent, if we are right in taking capacity 
for oxidation as a measure, albumen has about half the value of fat, and 
a greater value than both sugar and starch. 

It is true Liebig contends * for the existence of some hidden source 
of power in nitrogenous compounds. Arguing from the fact that alcohol 
in combustion gives off more heat than its corresponding amount of 
sugar, although a certain amount of heat has been evolved in the act of 
fermentation or conversion of the sugar into alcohol, he urges that force 
may be held stored up in the nitrogenous molecule, and liberated when 
the elements of the molecule are split asunder, and that thus more force 
may manifest itself than that derivable from chemical action. 

Professor Frankland,f how^ever, has experimentally determined the 
actual amount of force evolved during the breaking up by oxidation of 
various organic products (see table below); and unless nitrogenous mat- 
ter is capable of liberating force under oxidation within the system in a 
manner different from that occurring outside it, there is no alternative 
but to look to chemical action as the source of the force produced. 

Frankland's process consisted in deflagrating the substance with a 
mixture of chlorate of potash and manganic peroxide in an apparatus 
specially devised for such experiments, and called a calorimeter. The 
heat evolved was measured by ascertaining the elevation of temperature 
occurring in a known quantity of surrounding water. The results were 
brought to uniformity by being reduced into units of heat, the unit con- 
stituting the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one 
gramme (15.432 grains) of water one degree Centigrade (1.8° Fahren- 
heit). 

Subjoined are Professor Frankland's results for grape-sugar, starch, 
albumen, and fat. The ratio of the figures does not differ much from the 
ratio of those representing the amount of oxygen consumed in oxidation. 

Units of heat evolved by oxidation 
of one gramme (15.432 grains) as 
consumed within the body. 

Grape-sugar (commercial), .... 3277 

Starch (arrow-root), ...... 3912 

Albumen (purified), ...... 4263 

Fat (beef-fat), 9069 

* Pharmaceutical Journal, September 3, 1870. 
j- Philosophical Magazine, vol. xxxii., 1806. 



ALBIENTARY PRINCIPLES. 51 

In the case of sugar, starch, and fat, it has been taken that the heat 
evolved under oxidation in the calorimeter represents the heat given off 
when consumed within the body, there being every reason to conclude 
that the ultimate products are, in both instances, the same. With re- 
gard to albumen, however, it is known that complete oxidation is not 
undergone within the system. The nitrogen, in escaping as urea, carries 
off some of the combustible portion of the compound unconsumed. '' The 
actual energy," remarks Professor Frankland, " developed by the com- 
bustion of muscle in oxygen represents more than the amount of actual 
energy produced by its oxidation within the body, because, when muscle 
burns in oxygen, its carbon is converted into carbonic acid, and its 
hydrogen into water, the nitrogen being to a great extent evolved in the 
elementary state; whereas when muscle is most completely consumed in 
the body the products are carbonic acid, water, and urea — a substance 
which still retains a considerable amount of potential energy." The data 
for determining the force-value of albumen, as consumed within the 
body, were furnished by experimentally ascertaining the amount of heat 
evolved in the oxidation of urea, and knowing that almost exactly one- 
third of the weight of dry albumen is yielded as urea. Thence is supplied 
the deduction that has to be made from the full combustion-value of al- 
bumen to give the result required. 

It appears that about one-seventh of the potential (latent) energy — 
capacity for force-production — belonging to nitrogenous matter is carried 
off by urea, and thereby escapes in an unexpended state when nitrogen- 
ous matter is consumed within the body. 

Albumen has been selected for illustration, but what has been said for 
albumen applies also to the other nitrogenous alimentary principles, with 
the requisite variations for the slight difference in elementary composi- 
tion that exists. 

I have looked at the matter which has just formed the subject of consid- 
eration by the light of percentage composition, because, as I have already 
remarked, it supplies us with authentic data for our calculation, and be- 
cause it cannot be said that we know with certainty the formulfe for 
the nitrogenous alimentary principles. But still we are not precluded 
from surveying the change under the light of the formulae; and, if we do 
not know the precise number of atoms of each element entering into the 
composition of the proteine molecule, or the exact manner in which they 
are grouped, we do know that in the formula given a correct relative 
proportion is expressed. Now, taking the generally received formula for 
proteine, and showing w^hat is left on the removal of the nitrogen under the 
form of urea, the surplus carbon and hydrogen available for force-produc- 
tion is brought very conspicuously into view. Thus Mulder's formula for 
proteine is CggH^gN^Ojo-f 2H0. Abstract from this 2 atoms of urea, viz., 
C^HgN^O^, and 8 atoms of water, HgOg, and we get an available residue of 
32 atoms of carbon and 11 of hydrogen, according to the old notation, or 
16 of carbon and 11 of hydrogen according to the new, thus: C^gH^^N^O, 
+H,0 (2CH.N,0+4H.O) = C,.H„. 

From the relation already shown to exist between urea discharged and 
nitrogenous food ingested, it is not to be inferred that the nitrogenous 
matter which constitutes an integral part of the blood and other parts of 
the system is not also susceptible of metamorphosis — of being similarly 
split up into urea for excretion, and into carbon and hydrogen for force- 
production. After prolonged abstinence urea is still discoverable to some 
extent in the urine, and Lehmann found the same at the end of three days' 



52 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

subsistence upon a strictly non-nitrogenous diet. It may, therefore, be 
concluded that the nitrogenous matter belonging to the system may bo 
utilized for force-production after the same manner as has been set forth 
for the nitrogenous matter of food. 

Seeing that nitrogenous matter is broken up, 1st, into a nitrogenous 
portion — urea — which is eliminated as useless, and, 2d, a hydrocarbona- 
ceous residue which represents capacity for force-production, the question 
next confronts us, whether this hydrocarbonaceous residue, instead of 
being oxidized and applied at the moment of its production, presents itself 
under a form (that of fat, for example) for retention in the system, and 
for application as necessity may demand. 

Without any actual proof being available, there has long been a pre- 
vailing disposition to infer that fat may be formed as a product of the 
metamorphosis of proteine compounds within the animal economy. All 
attempts, it is true, have heretofore failed to produce fat by chemical 
means from proteine compounds; but there is nothing in a chemical point 
of view to render the possibility of such production unlikely. Indeed 
Liebig has argued on chemical grounds in favor of its occurrence. There 
are these considerations, also, bearing on the question: 

It is well known that, under certain conditions, the organs and tissues 
of the animal body are prone to undergo deviation from the natural state, 
and to become the seat of a deposit of fat in place of the natural histolo- 
gical element, such deviation constituting what is termed " fatty degen- 
eration." Now this change is susceptible of two explanations: it may 
be due to a dej^osition of fat during the performance of the nutritive pro- 
cess, in lieu of the material that has been removed; or, on the other hand, 
may proceed from a chemical transformation — a downward metamorphosis 
of the nitrogenous substance — the nitrogen disappearing under the form 
of an ammoniacal salt, urea, or some other simple combination, and a fatty 
compound being left to occupy the site. 

Virchow, who has closely studied the process of fatty degeneration, and 
whose opinion is entitled to weight on the subject, is strongly in favor of 
the latter hypothesis, viz., that the fat accumulated is a product of the 
metamorphosis of the nitrogenous portion of the affected tissue. 

Attempts have been made to find whether the transformation of nitro- 
genous matter into fat could be demonstrated by experiment. Excised 
animal structures were introduced into the peritoneal cavity of birds, and 
allowed to remain for some time, and were then examined in relation to 
the amount of fat discoverable. At first it was thought that evidence was 
afforded of a fatty metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter occurring, but 
on further investiofation the evidence was found to be inconclusive. 

Thus much it can be considered may be said: that what is observed 
in the mode of the occurrence of fatty degeneration is strongly suggestive 
of the doctrine that fat is producible by the metamorphosis of nitrogen- 
ous matter in the living economy, although nothing absolutely demon- 
strative can be adduced in support of it. 

In the production of adipocere it has also been contended that evi- 
dence is afforded in favor of the origin of fat from nitrogenous matter. 
Adipocere is a peculiar substance, somewhat spermaceti-like, into which 
the animal solids are sometimes found to be converted when exposed in 
a humid situation to putrefaction. P^ourcroy first described it in 1789, 
in a communication to the Academy of Sciences of Paris, having noticed 
its existence in certain bodies which had been interred in one of the 
Parisian cemeteries. The bodies appeared shrunk and flattened, and the 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 53 

soft solids, instead of having undergone the ordinary putrefactive change, 
were found to be converted into a brittle, cheesy matter, which softened 
and felt greasy when rubbed between the fingers. This material has 
since been recognized by other observers in dead bodies, and likewise in 
refuse-heaps of animal matter. It is also said to be obtainable by im- 
mersing flesh in a stream of water. It has been regarded as a product 
of the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter; but, on the other hand, some 
chemists of authority, as Gay-Lussac, Chevreul, and Berzelius, have con- 
tended that it simply represents the fat which has originally existed in 
the animal substance, the nitrogenous matter having undergone putre- 
faction and been removed. Here, again, therefore, it forms a debatable 
point whether or no the fat encountered is a product of the metamor- 
phosis of nitrogenous matter. 

It must, in fact, be said, with regard to the evidence as to the pro- 
duction of fat as a result of the splitting up of nitrogenous matter, that 
we have nothing of the nature of proof to deal with, but that it is highly 
probable that such production takes place, not, perhaps, as an immediate 
result, but as the last link in a chain of metamorphoses passed through by 
the hydrocarbonaceous portion which stands in complemental relation to 
the urea. 

Before bringing this subject to a close, it may be stated that Messrs. 
Lawes and Gilbert,* in a series of experiments on the feeding of animals, 
and the subsequent determination of the respective increase occurring in 
the component matters of the body, have adduced, if not actual proof, at 
least strono; evidence in favor of fat being: formed from the nitroo^enous 
portion of food. They first of all show that, for various reasons, the pig 
is the most appropriate animal for yielding information upon the point 
in question, and hence its selection as the subject of their experiments. 
Their results, they say, demonstrate that when pigs are fed on good ordi- 
nary food for periods of not less than eight or ten weeks, the amounts of 
total increase and of fat stored up are so great in proportion both to the 
original weight of the animal and the food ingested, that the data given 
may be safely relied on for furnishing a means of estimating from what 
constituent or constituents of the food the fat of the animal has been de- 
rived. In their experiments, the increase in body-weight ranged between 
51.3 and 08.9 per cent, when the feeding was conducted eight weeks, and 
between 85.4 and 106.8 per cent, when conducted ten weeks. From 59,9 
to 79 per cent, of this total increase was reckoned to consist of fat. 
From the nature of the food, the proportion of the stored-up fat that 
could possibly have been derived from the ready-formed fat ingested, 
even supposing the whole of what was supplied had been assimilated, 
was so small as to leave no doubt that a very large proportion must have 
originated from some other source. According to the figures given, the 
proportion of fat which must have so originated ranged from about two- 
thirds to eight-ninths of the total amount stored up. 

Thus, then, it was shown that fat must have been formed from the 
food ingested. The next question for solution was whether the fat pro- 
duced originated from the nitrogenous or non-nitrogenous elements of 
the food, or from both. 

That fat must have been produced from the non-nitrogenous matters 
— the carbohydrates — was easily susceptible of proof, for in some of the 
experiments the nature of the food was such that the carbon contained 



On the Sources of Fat of the Animal Body: Philosoph, Mag , vol. xxxii. 1866. 



54 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

in the fat that was formed amounted to more than could have been de- 
rived from tlie nitrogenous matter ingested. 

As regards the origin of fat from nitrogenous matter, the question is 
not to be disposed of in so simple a manner, but Messrs. Lawes and Gil- 
bert conclude that its production from this source may be looked upon, 
as shown by the following train of reasoning, to occur. In their experi- 
ments they purposely varied the relative proportion of the nitrogenous 
and non-nitrogenous parts of the food given to the several pigs. In some 
they were in the proportion existing in what may be considered the staple 
fattening food of the animal. In others the proportion of nitrogenous 
matter was raised considerably in excess of this standard. Now, from 
the results obtained, it appeared that there was no material difference in 
the amount of fat produced; although if fat were capable of originating 
only from the carbohydrates it would be reasonable to expect that, on 
diminishing their supply, as in replacing a portion of them by nitrogen- 
ous matters — in other words, by increasing the proportionate amount of 
nitrogenous matter in the food — the amount of lat developed would have 
been less. Looking at the evidence furnished, it seems only rational to 
infer that, under the diminution in the proportion of the carbohydrates, 
the nitrogenous matter, through the hydrocarbonaceous portion which 
remains after the separation of urea, took their place in supplying mate- 
rial for fat production, and thus led to there being no falling off observ- 
able in the quantity of fat produced. 

The precise position held by the gelatinous principles as alimentary 
matter must be considered, in spite of the numerous investigations that 
have been specially conducted on the subject, as involved in some degree 
of uncertainty. These principles, while forming highly nitrogenized 
compounds, stand apart from the albuminous group in not yielding pro- 
teine. Hence they are classed as the non-proteine compounds. Whilst 
the albuminous or proteine compounds exist in both animal and vegeta- 
ble kinds of food, these, the non-proteine, are encountered only in sub- 
stances derived from the animal kingdom. They consist of gelatine and 
chondrine — the former obtainable from bones, ligaments, tendons, skin, 
mucous and serous membranes, in fact wherever fibrous tissue exists; 
and the latter from cartilage. 

By subjecting these tissues to the action of boiling water the respec- 
tive principles are obtained; but whether they have been formed during 
the process or existed preformed in the tissues has been a disputed 
point, although the weight of evidence is in favor of the latter view. 
The chief characteristic, which they possess in common, is the property 
belonging to the hot aqueous solution of solidifying into a jelly on cool- 
ing. To some extent, in elementary composition and also in some minor 
chemical points, these principles differ from each other. 

With reference to the alimentary power of gelatinous matter, the 
great point of uncertainty is as to whether it is applicable to histoge- 
netic or tissue-forming purposes. It may be concluded that gelatinous 
matter is producible from albuminous substances, because the food of the 
herbivorous animal is entirely devoid of anything of the nature of gela- 
tine, and because, while gelatinous matter is obtainable in abundance 
from the body of the chick, none can be produced from the original con- 
stituents of the egg. The proteine compounds, therefore, appear to be 
evidently capable of becoming the source of gelatinous matter, but the 
point to be determined is, how far gelatinous matter is capable of con- 
tributing to the production of the nitrogenous compounds met with in 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 55 

the body. It has been contended that it certainly is unsusceptible of 
application toward the formation of muscle and the other tissues having' 
as their basis an albuminous compound; and it is doubtful if it is even 
capable of contributing to the formation of the tissues, such as skin, 
bone, tendon, etc., whose basis consists of gelatinous matter, and which 
are hence styled the gelatinous tissues. 

The fact of its not being recognizable in the blood, while the blood 
constitutes the source from which all the tissues draw their nutrient sup- 
ply, has been adduced as an argument against its having any histoge- 
netic capacity. But this, in reality, tells for nothing, because under any 
circumstances it is not to be expected that the gelatine should be recog- 
nizable in the blood, as it is converted by digestion into albuminose bo- 
fore its absorption occurs. 

The nutritive value of gelatine was made the subject of special inquiry 
several years back, by a committee appointed by the French Academy of 
Sciences, to ascertain if bones could be turned to account for yielding an 
article of food for human consumption. The results arrived at by this 
committee, which passes under the designation of the Gelatine Commis- 
sion, have attained a widely spread notoriety. Among the conclusions 
drawn up by Magendie in the name of the commission, it is stated that 
by no knowm method of procedure could there be extracted from bones 
an aliment which either alone or mixed with other substances could be 
substituted for meat. It was found that dogs fed solely on raw bones 
and water for three months continued in perfect health, and maintained 
their orio-inal weio-ht. Fed on the same kind of bones which had been 
previously subjected to the change induced by boiling with water, the 
doo^s died at the end of two months with all the sio-ns of inanition. The 
general issue of the inquiry was to throw doubt upon the nutritive ca- 
pacity of gelatine as an individual organic principle. Before accepting 
such a conclusion, however, it is necessary that we should take a more 
comprehensive survey of the matter, and look to the weight to be at- 
tached to investigations conducted upon the nutritive value of an iso- 
lated organic principle, and in doing so it is found that in no case will it 
supply what is requisite for supporting life. Neither this nor that 
chemical principle will suffice. There must be a combination of princi- 
ples furnished; such, indeed, as exists in the objects of nature around 
us, w^hich we instinctively consume as food. 

In opposition to the inference to which the conclusions arrived at 
by the Gelatine Commission pointed, Bischoff and Voit, from their re- 
searches on nutrition, are of opinion that gelatine possesses real nutri- 
tive value; that to some extent it forms a substitute for other plastic 
matter, and that, therefore, by its admixture with the food, the quan- 
tity of the other nitrogenous matter may, without disadvantage, be 
diminished. 

If uncertainty prevails as to the precise capacity of gelatine as an 
agent of nutrition, there can be no doubt that it behaves like a proteine 
compound in relation to force-production. It has been ascertained that 
the elimination of urea is augmented by the copious ingestion of gel- 
atine, just as happens in the case of the proteine compounds. It is 
evident, therefore, that the same kind of splitting up occurs in the two 
cases; and, with the separation of urea from the gelatine molecule, a 
residue of available carbon and hydrogen will be left, in accordance 
with what has been before explained, for application toward force- 
production. There is this further analogy between these compounds, as 



56 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

regards the phenomena of metamorphosis, that leucine is yielded by 
both under the influence of boiling with a solution of potash. 



THE NON-NITROGENOUS ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 

While nitrogenous matter may be regarded as forming the essential 
basis of structures possessing active or living properties, the non-nitro- 
genous principles ma}'' be looked upon as supplying the source of power. 
The one may be spoken of as holding the position of the instrument of 
action, while the other supplies the motive power. Nitrogenous alimen- 
tary matter may, it is true, by oxidation contribute to the generation of 
the moving force, but, as has been explained, in fulfilling this office there 
is evidence before us to show that it is split up into two distinct portions, 
one containing the nitrogen, which is eliminated as useless, and a residuary 
non-nitrogenous portion which is retained and utilized in force-production. 
It is true also, as will be shown hereafter, that non-nitrogenous matter 
may be applied to tissue formation, but it is probable that, in doing so, it 
is simply for the purpose of being stored up for subsequent appropriation 
to force-production, according as circumstances may require. 

The non-nitrogenous alimentary principles comprise — 
First. — The hydrocarbons or fats. 
Second. — The carbohydrates, starch, sugar, etc.; and 
Third, — Principles such as alcohol and the vegetable acids, which do 
not strictly fall within either of the preceding groups. 

Hydrocarbons or Fats. — These principles constitute compounds con- 
sisting of carbon and hydrogen, combined with only a small proportion of 
oxygen. Represented in round numbers, the following may be given as 
the percentage composition of the chief fatty principles; — 

Carbon, ......... 79 

Hydrogen, . . . . . . . • .11 

Oxygen, .... ..... 10 

100 

The formula answering to the above composition that has been framed 
consists of C,„H,0 [C^^H^p]. 

This, it will be seen, might be considered as representing a pure 
hydrocarbon, in which every tenth atom of hydrogen is replaced by an 
atom of oxygen. 

Fats are supplied to us in both animal and vegetable articles of food. 
Chemically, they consist of a principle possessing acid properties-— a fatty 
acid — in combination with a radical. When acted upon by alkalies, and 
also by contact with bodies of the nature of ferments, and by decomposing 
animal substances, the fatty acid is separated, and a sweet principle known 
as glycerine makes its appearance. Glycerine, however, it would seem, 
has not pre-existed in the fat. It is found that the united weight of the 
glycerine and fatty acid produced exceeds that of the fat originally em- 
ployed. The elements of water are appropriated, and glycerine is there- 



ALIME]MTARY PRINCIPLES. 57 

upon formed by an addition to the hypothetical radical in combination 
with the fatty acid in the neutral fat. 

There are three compounds — stearine, palmitine, and oleine — which 
make up the great bulk of the fatty matter met with. 

Stearine is the most solid fat of the three. It exists largely in mut- 
ton suet, and gives rise to the firmness by which this kind of fat is 
characterized. Requiring a temperature of about 145° Fahrenheit to 
melt it, at ordinary temperatures it is always solid. It occurs to a larger 
or smaller extent in most animal fats; but still there are some in which it 
has not been reco^-nized. It is never found in veo;-etable fat. 

Palmitine holds an intermediate place between stearine and oleine as 
regards consistence. It is the chief component of most animal fats, and 
occurs largely in vegetable fats. What was formerly described as mar- 
garine proves to be a mixture of palmitine and stearine. 

Oleine is always met with in a fluid state, unless the temperature is 
very low. It occurs in both vegetable and animal fats, but vegetable fats 
are richer in it than animal. 

The digestion of fat takes place in the small intestine. It traverses 
the mouth without undergoing any change beyond tliat induced by the 
mechanical action of mastication. 

In the stomach the nitrogenous matter which may be incorporated 
with and invest the fatty, as occurs in the natural alimentary product, is 
dissolved, and the latter set free. Passing from the stomach, it is pre- 
pared for absorption in the small intestine by emulsification or reduction 
to a minute state of subdivision. As regards animal and vegetable fats, 
it appears that the former are easier of digestion and absorption than the 
latter. 

The emulsification of fat is effected by the pancreatic juice, and proba- 
bly also by the secretion of Brunner's glands. The bile has no influence 
over neutral fats, i.e., fats in the state in which we consume them; but 
according to Dr. Marcet it^ possesses the power of emulsifying the fatty 
acids, and he says there is some liberation of fatty acid efi^ected while the 
fat is contained in the stomach. The process of emulsification is one of a 
purely physical nature. The fat is separated into very minute globules, 
just as it exists in milk, and in this state it is taken up by the special ab- 
sorbing organs of the small intestine, viz., the villi. 

It was noticed by Bernard that when fat is delayed for some hours in 
contact with pancreatic juice, an acidification of it, or chemical conver- 
sion into fatty acid and glycerine, is found to have taken place. The de- 
lay, however, in the intestine is not long enough for this chemical change 
to occur as a physiological phenomenon. Bernard thought originally 
that it did — that the digestion of fat was attended with acidification; 
but fat contained in the lacteals — the absorbed fat, that is to say — has 
been found to be in precisely the same chemical condition as that con- 
tained in the intestine. It is thus evident that digestion and absorption 
of fat do not involve its chemical change. 

The villi — little projecting bodies limited in situation to the small in- 
testine — are the organs through the agency of which the fat is absorbed. 
While absorption is going on they are to be seen in a densely white 
state, from the quantity of fatty particles with which they are charged. 
It is not precisely understood how the fatty matter passes from the intes- 
tine and reaches their centre. From what is to be seen on microscopic 
examination, conducted immediately after death, it would seem that it is 
by cell-agency that the fatty matter is picked out from the intestinal 



58 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

contents. During fasting the epithelial cells investing the villi are club- 
shaped and devoid of fat-globules. During absorption, on the other hand, 
they are charged with fat-globules, and many are found of a spheroidal, 
instead of a columnar form. The process of absorption may be thus far 
likened to that of secretion. As the secreting cells of the glands separate 
from the blood the particular materials required for each individual secre- 
tion, so these cells of the villi pick out or separate from the chyme or in- 
testinal contents the fatty matter which is subsequently found in the 
lacteals. A branch of the lacteal system existing in the centre of the 
villus receives the product of absorption. Thus much is certain — what 
remains to be made clear is the manner in which the transmission to the 
lacteal is effected. By the lacteal system the absorbed fat is conducted 
to and poured into the circulation. Mixing with the alkaline blood, the fat 
becomes saponified and dissolved, and in this state it is mostly met with 
in the circulation. Should a rapid entrance, however, have been effected, 
as happens for a while after the ingestion of food rich in fatty matter, 
free fat exists in the blood; and a specimen withdrawn under these cir- 
cumstances, and afterward allowed to remain at rest, presents, after a 
short time, a distinct cream-like layer upon the surface. 

Having pointed out how the fat belonging to the food reaches the 
circulation, we have next to consider the purposes to which it is applied 
in the system. 

I will first speak of it as contributing to the construction of one of the 
anatomical elements of the body. The adipose tissue consists of nucleated 
vesicles filled with fatty matter. These vesicles are closely packed to- 
gether and surrounded by capillary blood-vessels. The fat contained in 
them is evidently drawn, as in nutrition generally, from the blood circu- 
lating around, and, when so separated, a tissue is formed which is turned 
to account for mechanical, physical, and chemico-physiological purposes. 

For instance, it fills up interstices between muscles, bones, vessels, and 
the other anatomical structures, and by its accximulation under the skin, 
it gives a regular and rounded form to the outer surface of the body. 

As a bad conductor of heat, the layer of adipose tissue beneath the 
skin contributes toward retaining the animal warmth. This function it 
most conspicuously fulfils in the aquatic warm-blooded animals, such as 
the seal, porpoise, whale, etc., in which a coat of hair would prove of no 
service from the nature of the circumstances that exist. The very great 
thickness of the subcutaneous layer of adipose tissue met with in these 
animals is evidently designed to meet the demand occasioned by the un- 
suitableness, in this particular instance, of the ordinary provision. 

Accumulated within the vesicles and susceptible of reabsorption into 
the blood, the fat forms a store of force-producing material to be drawn 
upon as circumstances may require. Hence it is that life is sustained 
longer in a fat animal under abstinence from food and with a supply of 
water than in a thin one. 

In vol. xi. of the " Transactions of the Linn^can Society," an account 
is given by Mr. Mantell (afterward Dr. Mantell, the celebrated geologist), 
a Fellow of the Society, under the form of a letter to the secretary, of 
an instance of extraordinary prolongation of life in a fat animal under ab- 
sence of food. So extraordinar}'-, indeed, is the account, that I should 
scarcely feel disposed to allude to it here did not the source from which 
it is derived entitle it to credit. It appears that on December 14, 1810, 
a pig was buried in its sty by the fall of part of the chalk cliff under 
Dover Castle. On May 23d — IGO days afterward — Mr. Mantell was told 



alimejs^tary principles. 59 

by some workmen employed in removing the fallen chalk that they had 
heard the whining of the pig, and although he had great doubt of the 
fact, he urged them to proceed in clearing away the chalk from the sty, 
and was soon afterward surprised to see the pig extricated from its con- 
finement alive. At the time of the accident the pig was in a fat condi- 
tion, and supposed to have weighed about 160 lbs. When extricated it 
presented an extremely emaciated appearance, and weighed no more than 
40 lbs. The sty consisted of a cave about six feet square, dug in the 
rock, and boarded in front. There was neither food nor water in it, it 
was asserted, when the fall of the cliff took place. The door and other 
wood in front of the sty was much nibbled, and the sides of the cave 
looked very smooth, as though the animal had been constantly licking 
them to obtain the moisture exudino: throug-h the rock. 

In the hibernating animal, a great accumulation of fat takes place 
during the autumn, which is favored by the oily nature of the nuts, seeds, 
etc., then obtainable as food. At the end of the winter sleep, the animal 
is reduced to a comparatively emaciated condition. The fat accumulated 
may be looked upon as designed to form an internal store for consumption 
when the supply from without is suspended. 

In an emaciated animal, the fat vesicles, under the microscope, betray 
the process of absorption that has been going on. They are shrunken in 
appearance, and the fatty contents of the vesicle, receding from the en- 
velope, leave a space which is filled with watery fluid. 

Besides formino^ the basis of a tissue fulfillinDr- the functions referred 
to, fatty matter occurs in intimate incorporation with the nitrogenous 
elements of most, if not all, of the various anatomical structures. Leh- 
mann remarks that no animal cell or fibre can be formed without the co- 
operation of fat, and insists strongly on the fat constituting an active 
agent in exciting the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter. Lehmann, 
however, wrote under the influence of the formerly prevailing notion that 
the manifestation of vital energy, as under muscular and nervous action, 
was due to a destructive metamorphosis of the nitrogenous constituents 
of the tissues. This, as has already been pointed out, stands opposed to 
the results of modern research; and instead of (as suggested by Lehmann) 
the fatty matter operating by inducing a metamorphosis of the nitrogen- 
ous, it mav now be considered that, in undero^oins: oxidation, it consti- 
tutes, itself, the source of the power manifested. But this is a point 
that will be more particularly adverted to hereafter. 

Lehmann has also asserted that fat assists the action of the diofestive 
fluid. He goes so far as to say that he has ascertained that a certain, 
though small, amount of fat is indispensable to the metamorphosis and so- 
lution of nitrogenous articles of food during the process of gastric diges- 
tion. I do not think that experiment is found to bear out this statement 
oi Lehmann; at all events I have seen nothing from my own experiments 
on artificial di^-estion to warrant the belief that the action of the o-astric 
juice is even influenced, much less determined by, the presence of fat. 

We now come to the consideration of fat with reference to the func- 
tions fulfilled by its oxidation within the system, and here we have to 
deal with functions associated with its final destination. It is the fatty 
matter existing in the blood that may be looked upon as being thus ap- 
plied, and when this fails to be adequately replenished by a supply from 
the food, then absorption occurs from the store which the adipose tissue 
of the body represents. 

Under Liebig's classification, fat is held to be a so-called " element of 



60 A TUEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

respiration," or, to speak more correctly, a calorifacient or heat-produ- 
cing agent. An exalted temperature is required for a high manifestation 
of vitality, and amongst the higher members of the animal kingdom, in 
which the processes of life are carried on with much greater activity than 
amongst the lower, provision is made for the generation of heat within 
the body. Notwithstanding exposure to great external cold, so long as a 
healthy condition prevails, a certain uniform temperature is maintained; 
and for this end the oxidation of combustible material is constantly 
going on. Hence arises a demand for food capable of undergoing the 
process of oxidation. Liebig holds the non-nitrogenous alimentary prin- 
ciples to be specially devoted to this purpose. That they do contribute 
to it there can be no doubt; but it will be for us presently to consider 
whether they do not also contribute to the production of other manifesta- 
tions of energy besides heat. 

The capacity of a material for heat-production depends upon the 
amount of unoxidized carbon and hydrogen it contains; and of all elemen- 
tary materials the fats hold the highest place in this respect. While in 
starchy, saccharine, and such-like matters, a sufficient amount of oxygen 
exists in the compound to oxidize all the hydrogen present, leaving only 
the carbon in an oxidizable condition; in the fats not only is the carbon, 
but also the chief portion of the hydrogen in an unoxidized state. 

To illustrate the difference existing, it may be stated that starch con- 
tains, in round numbers, 45 per cent, of carbon and 6 per cent, of hydro- 
gen, making 51 per cent, of carbon and hydrogen together. The re- 
mainder consists of oxygen, amounting to as much as 49 per cent, of the 
whole. Sugar, and gum likewise, in round numbers, contain 43 per cent, 
of carbon and 6 per cent, of hydrogen, making 49 per cent, of carbon and 
hydrogen together, and leaving 51 per cent, to be made up by oxygen. 
Fat, on the other hand, contains about 90 per cent, of carbon and hN'dro- 
gen — 79 per cent, of carbon and 11 per cent, of hydrogen. Only 10 per 
cent., therefore, remains to consist of oxygen. 

The respective values of these compounds, as regards capacity for oxi- 
dation, may also be displayed by reference to their chemical formuliv. 
The formula for starch, for instance, consists of C^^Hj^Ojo [CpHj^OJ, and 
in all the other allied compounds the hydrogen and oxygen exist similarly 
in the proportion to form water. Fat may be represented by the formula 
C^gHgO [Cj^HjgO]. Here only one atom of hydrogen has its combining 
equivalent of oxygen contained in the compound. The remaining eight 
atoms, as well as the carbon, are in a free state for oxidation. 

The amount of oxygen consumed in oxidizing a given quantity of an 
alimentary principle will necessarily vary with the amount of surplus or 
uncombined carbon and hydrogen it contains. Hence the relative value 
of these principles as heat-producing agents (it being upon the amount of 
chemical action that the quantity of heat produced depends) may be 
further represented through the medium of the oxygen for which there is 
the capacity for appropriating; and, looked at in this light, fat, starch, 
and sugar hold the following positions with regard to each other. The 
figures show the amount of oxygen required to oxidize fully 100 parts: 

Fat, 293 

Starch, 150 

Sugar (C,,H,,0 J [C,H^,OJ, . . . . •• 106 
x\ccording to what is here shown, a given quantity of fat will have the 
power of appropriating about 2.4 times as much oxygen as the same 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 61 

quantity of starch; or, stated in other words, will develop about 2.4 times 
as much heat in the process of oxidation, and hence has about 2.4 times as 
much value as a heat-producing agent. 

The conclusions which have up to this point been set forth are based 
on calculation. But the actual value in respect of capacity for heat-pro- 
duction has been determined experimentally by means of the calorimeter, 
and the following are the figures obtained by Professor Frankland. It 
will be seen that they accord with the conclusions otherwise arrived at: 

Actual Heat J Expressed in Units [the imit representing the heat required 
to raise 1 gramme (15.432 grains) of water 1° Cent, or 1.8° lAihr.^ 
Developed by 1 Gramme when Burnt in Oxgyen. 

Heat units. 

Beef-fat, 0009 

Starch (arrow-root), . . . , . . .3912 

Cane- (lump) sugar, ...... 3348 

Commercial grape-sugar, ...... 3277 

Such is equivalent to saying that 1 lb. of beef-fat by oxidation will 
generate heat sufficient to raise the temperature of 9,009 lbs. (about 4 
tons weight) of water by 1.8° Fahr. (1° Cent.); that the oxidation of the 
same quantity of arrow-root will similarly raise the temperature of only 
3,912 lbs. of water; cane-sugar, 3,348 lbs. ; and commercial grape-sugar, 
3,277 lbs. 

Looking at this difference in the relative value of fatty, starchy, and 
saccharine matters as heat-producers, we see the wisdom cf the instinc- 
tive consumption of food abounding in fatty matter by the inhabitants 
of the arctic regions. The Esquimaux and other dwellers in the frigid 
zone devour with avidity the fat of whales, seals, etc., and find in this 
the most efficient kind of combustible material. In the tropics, on the 
other hand, the food consumed by the native inhabitants consists mainly 
of farinaceous and succulent vegetable matter. On account of the ele- 
vated temperature of the surrounding air, less heat is required to be pro- 
duced within the body, and a less efficient combustible material is able 
to supply what is needed for the maintenance of the ordinary temperature. 

1 now arrive at the appropriate place for discussing the question of 
the application of fat to the production of muscular and nervous force, 
and what I have to say upon the point will apply, not to fat merely, but 
to other forms of non-nitrogenous alimentary matter. 

Until of late years, Liebig's doctrines have been very generally re- 
ceived. These, as is well known, assign to non-nitrogenous matters, in 
respect of their cAewzco-physiological office, the part simply of heat-pro- 
ducers. Believing that muscular and nervous action involved a destruc- 
tion of the respective tissues, and that in this destruction was to be 
sought the development of the power manifested, Liebig maintained that» 
the nitrogenous alimentary matters constitute the primary source of the 
power, these being the principles out of which the tissues are in the first 
instance formed and subsequently renewed. 

Under such a view, the nitrogenous matters eliminated as products of 
disintegration should vary according to the amount of work performed, 
and this was at one time believed to be the case. Even as recently as 
1865, Dr. Lyon Playfair (on "The Food of Man in Relation to his Useful 
Work") writes in support of Liebig's doctrine, and reasons on the assump- 
tion that the work is expressed by the elimination of urea. " The nor- 



G2 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

mal function," he says, " of nutrition is to build up plastic food into 
tissues, to be transformed by internal and external dynamical work into 
carbonic acid, water, and urea." He elsewhere asserts that he considers 
Liebig as amply justified in viewing the non-nitrogenous portions of food 
as mere heat-givers; and, with reference to the oxidation of fat forming 
the source of muscular action, the conception, he says, " can only have 
arisen from the false analogy of the animal body to a steam-engine. But 
incessant transformation of the acting parts of the animal machine forms 
the condition for its action, while in the case of the steam-engine it is 
the transformation of fuel external to the machine which causes it to 
move." Dr. Playfair even furthermore reproduces and endorses Liebig's 
representation of the wild beast in confinement being obliged to consume 
its tissues by incessantly pacing backward and forward in its den, in. 
order that the opportunity may be afforded for its food, which abounds 
in nitrogenous matter, to be turned to account. 

These assertions, it must be said, are not in accord with the results of 
recent investigations. It has been amply shown {vide p. 26 et seq.) that 
the elimination of usea, or to speak more generally — nitrogen, does not 
bear the relation which it was formerly supposed to do to muscular work; 
and, as a corollary, it may be taken that muscular action is not the result 
of and is not to be measured by muscular destruction. If not, then, to 
an oxidation or consumption of muscular tissue, to what is the energy 
manifested to be ascribed ? The known laws about force, lead us to look 
to chemical action of some kind as the source of the manifestation in ques- 
tion. 

An examination of the outgoings from the system may, therefore, be 
rationally appealed to for information regarding the nature of the mate- 
rials that are consumed in the production of the energy that is manifested. 
Now, if urea is not a measure of muscular work, it is noticeable that car- 
bonic acid is; and it is upon this fact that is founded the doctrine of the 
present day, which refers the source of muscular power to the oxidation 
of non-nitrogenous matter. So thorough has been the modification of 
views upon this point, that Traube, as mentioned on a former page, has 
gone as far as directly to invert the doctrine of Liebig. While Liebig 
considered that mechanical work could only be produced from the oxida- 
tion of nitrogenous matter, Traube has asserted that, in such work, non- 
nitrogenous substances exclusively are consumed, and that the metamor- 
phosis of the organized nitrogenous part of a muscle is neither involved in 
nor increased by its action. 

It has, for some time past, been generally believed that the elimina- 
tion of carbonic acid is increased by muscular work. Thus Lehmann says 
that bodily exercise increases the exhalation of carbonic acid in the same 
manner as a state of rest diminishes it. Vierordt, he states, convinced 
himself that the absolute as well as the relative quantity of carbonic acid 
was increased after moderate exercise, and this result, he says, is in per- 
fect conformity with the experiments of Scharling. H. Hoffmann, he con- 
tinues, found that the sum of the products of exlialation of the skin and 
lungs was much more considerable after prolonged motion than after pro- 
longed rest; and every one, he further says, who has instituted experi- 
ments on the respiration of animals, must be aware that they exhale far 
more carbonic acid when they are lively and active than during a state of 
repose. 

The older observations upon this point, however, were attended with 
some lack of uniformity in the results, and it has been reserved for more 



ALIMEi^TAEY PEINCIPLES. 63 

recent Inquiry, with improved means and modes of investigation, to put 
the matter in a thoroughly satisfactory position, and to show that the ex- 
halation of carbonic acid holds a direct relation to the amount of work 
performed. 

Dr. Edward Smith, in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1859, has 
given the results of an extensive series of experiments upon the elimina- 
tion of carbonic acid under various conditions. They were mostly prac- 
tised upon hin;self, and carried out with zealous self-denial. A mask was 
closely fitted to the face, and a tube passing off from it conducted the ex- 
pired air to an apparatus in which the carbonic acid was abstracted and 
absorbed by means of potash, and afterward estimated by weighing. The 
amounts of carbonic acid exhaled by Dr. Smith, under varying conditions 
of exertion, stood as follows: 

Carbonic acid 

exhaled per minute, 

in grains. 

During- sleep, 4.99 

Lying down and almost asleep (average of three observations), . . 5.91 
Walking at the rate of two miles per hour, . . . . . .18.10 

Walking at the rate of three miles per hour, . . . . .25.83 

Working at the treadmill, ascending at the rate of 38.65 feet per minute 

(average of three observations), 44.97 

Dr. Smith's results are drawn from the carbonic acid exhaled during 
limited periods of time. Pettenkofer, assisted by Voit, has instituted ex- 
periments whereby the observation extended through a period consisting 
of many hours. An air-tight chamber, sufficiently large to enable a man 
to live, move about, and sleep in, was provided. To this was adapted an 
arrangement for maintaining an ingress and egress of air, and for divert- 
ing a definite proportion of the latter for the purpose of analysis, in order 
that the amount of carbonic acid escaping might be determined. In this 
chamber, upon one occasion, July 31, 1866,* a watchmaker remained for 
twenty-four hours, passing a day of rest; that is, he occupied himself only 
so far as not to feel dull, reading newspapers and a novel, and repairing 
and cleaning a watch which he had taken with him into the chamber. He 
went to bed at eight p.m., and slept well till five a.m., when he was aroused 
by some one on the outside. Three days later the same man entered the 
chamber, and passed a day of work; the work consisting of turning a wheel 
with a weight attached to it. Rest and meals were taken at the periods 
usual with workmen, and work was stopped at half-past five p.m. The 
food taken was exactly the same as on the day of rest; but 600 grammes 
more water, which had been allowed ad libitum on both days, were con- 
sumed. The quantities of carbonic acid and urea eliminated are shown by 
the subjoined figures: 



6 A.M. to 6 P.M., 
6 P.M. to 6 A.M., 



Day of Rest. 




Carbonic acid. 


Urea. 


Grammes. 


Grammes, 


532.9 


21.7 


378.6 


15.5 



Total, . . 911.5 37.2 



Medical Times and Gazette, vol. ii., p. 680. 1866. 



G4 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Day of Work. 

Carbonic acid. Urea. 

Grammes. Grammes. 
6 A.M. to 6 P.M., . . 884.6 20.1 

6 P.M. to 6 A.M., . . 399.6 16.9 



Total, . . 1,184.2 37.0 

It Tvill be noticed from the above results that no effect was produced 
upon the elimination of urea. The food consumed was, as mentioned, 
similar on the two days, and, in accordance with this fact, there was a 
close agreement in the respective amounts of urea voided. The carbonic 
acid discharged during the actual period of work greatly exceeded that 
discharged during the corresponding period of rest. During the two 
night-periods when similar conditions prevailed, no material difference in 
the amount of carbonic acid was perceptible. The quantities, of course, 
represented the exhalation from both the lungs and the cutaneous surface. 

It is impossible by experiment to ascertain anything about the oxida- 
tion of hydrogen and production of water in relation to muscular work. 
It having been shown, however, that work is associated with an oxidation 
of carbon, it may be assumed that it is similarly associated with, and produ- 
cible from, an oxidation of hydrogen. 

To this point, then, are we brought by the progress of experimental 
research. The facts connected with the elimination of nitrogen show 
that muscular work is not to be referred — as taught by Liebig, and till 
lately generally believed — to an oxidation of the nitrogenous basis of 
muscular tissue; and if this holds good for muscular, it may be assumed 
also to do so for nervous tissue. The relation, on the other hand, which 
has been shown to exist between the elimination of carbonic acid and the 
performance of work entitles us to consider that to the oxidation of hydro- 
carbonaceous matter may be referred the production of power. 

Just as matter is indestructible and cannot be created, so, it is now 
understood, is force. Force may be transmuted from one form into an- 
other — from chemical energy into heat, mechanical power, and so on; but 
this, it is considered, is all that occurs; and what holds good for the world 
around us is considered also to apply within the living organism. Physi- 
ologists refer the chief source of heat to the oxidation of carbon and 
hydrogen, and to the same source is now ascribed the production of me- 
chanical power. The energy set free by chemical action manifests itself 
under the form of mechanical work. The following simile has been sug- 
gested by Fick and Wislicenus: '* 

"A bundle of muscle-fibres is a kind of machine, consisting of albu- 
minous material, just as a steam-engine is made of steel, iron, brass, etc. 
Now, as in the steam-engine coal is burnt in order to produce force, so 
in the muscular machine fats, or hydrates of carbon, are burnt for the 
same purpose. And, in the same manner as the constructive material of 
the steam-engine (iron, etc.) is worn away and oxidized, the constructive 
material of the muscle is worn away, and this wearing away is the source 
of the nitrogenous constituents of the urine. This theory explains why, 
durijig muscular exertion, the excretion of the nitrogenous constituents 
of the urine is little or not at all increased, while that of carbonic acid is 
enormously augmented; for, in a steam-engine moderately fired, and ready 

* On tbe Origin of Muscular Power, Philosophical Mag., vol. xxxi., p. 501. 



ALEVIENTARY PEINCIPLE3. 65 

for use, the oxidation of iron, etc., would go on tolerably equably, and 
would not be much increased by the more rapid firing necessary for work- 
ino-, but much more coal would be burnt when it was at work than when 
it Avas standing idle." 

Looking, then, at the evidence adduced, the result of modern research 
goes to show that the non-nitrogenous alimentary principles are applied 
not only to the production of heat, but likewise to other forms of force. 
It may be considered that nitrogenous matter, which constitutes the basis 
of the various organs and textures, forms the instrument of action, whilst 
the oxidation of non-nitrogenous matter supplies the motive power. 

Fick and Wislicenus, in their celebrated mountain ascent, ascertained 
that severe labor might be performed for a while without the use of ni- 
trogenous food. As a result of their experience they remark: "We can 
assert from our own experience in the ascent of the Faulhorn, that, in 
spite of the amount of work, and the abstinence for thirty-one hours from 
albuminous food, we neither of us felt in the least exhausted. This could 
hardly have been the case," they proceed to say, " if our muscular force 
had not been sustained by the non-nitrogenous food of which we partook." 

The two soldiers, in one of Dr. Parkes' experiments,* who were sub- 
jected to a couple of days' pretty severe walking exercise on a non-nitro- 
genous diet, were questioned as to how they felt in performing it. The 
distance traversed amounted to 23f miles on the first day, and 32f miles 
on the second, on level ground. The diet satisfied hunger. There was 
no sinking nor craving for other kinds of food, but it was monotonous, 
and neither man wished to continue it. The first day's walking was borne 
pretty well. On the second day, both men accomplished the first twenty 
miles well, but felt very much fatigued during the last thirteen. They 
could have both marched on the following day, had it been necessary. 
One man would give no opinion as to the amount of fatigue experienced 
in comparison with walking on other occasions, as he had no fair basis, 
he said, to go by. The other, however, was decidedly of opinion that he 
sustained much more fatigue than when walking upon other food. 

In a previous part of this work {vide p. 40 et seq.), it has been fully 
pointed out how, without coinciding with the doctrine formerly enter- 
tained, the nitrogenous alimentary principles are, like the non-nitrogen- 
ous, rendered applicable to force-production. Instead of passing into 
the state of tissue, and thence by oxidation giving rise to the evolution 
of force, they undergo (probably by the action of the liver) a splitting up 
into urea for the one part, which carries off the nitrogen as an unavail- 
able element, and into a slightly oxygenated hydrocarbonaceous residue 
for the other, which may be looked upon as applicable in the same way as 
primarily ingested non-nitrogenous matter to force-production. 

That energy capable of resulting in the performance of mechanical 
work is produced in the animal system by the oxidation of carbonaceous 
matter may be considered as an established fact. Whether, however, 
this energy arises from the occurrence of oxidation in the blood as it is 
circulating through the capillary vessels of the muscle, or whether from 
the oxidation of hvdrocarbonaceous matter existina" in the muscular tis- 
sue, is a point which it is not easy to see the way to settle; but the latter 
proposition, it may be said, appears the more probable of the two. 

As is the case with reference to heat, the amount of mechanical energy 
producible is in proportion to the amount of chemical action occurring. 

* Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xv., p. 346. 1867. 
5 



66 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

A given amount of an organic compound, for example, will, as is well 
known, by oxidation give rise to the generation of a definite and ascer- 
tainable amount of heat. In the same manner, when the energy set free 
is manifested under the form of mechanical power instead of heat, a fixed 
amount of work is capable of being performed. The energy produced 
may present itself under the form of a certain amount of heat, or, on the 
other hand, may lead to the accomplishment of a certain amount of work; 
not only so, but heat and mechanical power are known to be mutually 
convertible, and a definite expression can be given of their relative value 
in representative equivalents. 

According to the English system, work is measured by pounds or tons 
lifted a foot, and the measurement is expressed as foot-pounds or foot-tons. 

Now, Mr. Joule, of Manchester, has ascertained, and his conclusions 
are very generally acquiesced in, that the amount of energy which under 
the form of heat will raise the temperature of a pound of water 1° Fahr. 
will, if manifested as mechanical force, raise 772 pounds a foot high, or 
what, of course, amounts to the same, 1 pound 772 feet high. Thus the 
dynamic equivalent of 1° Fahr. of heat is said to be 772 foot-pounds. 
Adopting the Centigrade scale of thermal measurement, the mechanical 
equivalent of 1° (1.8° Fahr.) will be 1,389 foot-pounds; that is, the energy 
which, as calorific power, will raise the temperature of a pound of water 
1° Cent. (1.8° Fahr.) will be capable, as motive power, of raising a pound 
weight 1,389 feet high. 

Under the Continental system the mechanical equivalent of heat is 
expressed in • kilogrammetres — a kilogrammetre constituting one kilo- 
gramme (2.2046 pounds avoirdupois) raised to the height of a metre 
(3.2808 feet). Thus represented, and following Mr. Joule's formula, 1° 
Cent, of heat may be said to be equivalent to 423^ kilogrammetres, which 
means that the heat which will raise the temperature of a kilogramme of 
water 1° Cent, will be equivalent to the mechanical power required to 
raise a kilogramme weight 423|- metres high. 

Applying this to the utilization of food, the value of the various prin- 
ciples as mechanical-power-producers will correspond with their value as 
heat-producers. As heat-production is related to the amount of chemical 
action ensuing, so likewise is mechanical power-production. Such ali- 
mentary principle as will by oxidation give rise to the greatest amount of 
heat will have the greatest capacity for the production of working power. 

At p. 61 the calorific value of fat, starch, cane-sugar, and grape-sugar 
is to be found according to the actual determinations of Professor Frank- 
land. Looked at in relation to the performance of work, and taking Mr. 
Joule's estimate of the mechanical equivalent of heat as the basis of calcu- 
lation, the capacity of these articles will stand thus: 

A.mount of Mechanical 'Worh obtainable from the Oxidation of One 

Gramme (15.432) grains. 

{Frankland.) 

In kilogrammetres In foot-pounds * 

(kilogrammes lifted a metre). (pounds lifted a foot). 

Beef fat, . . . 3,841 27,778 

Starch (arrow-root), . 1,657 11,983 

Lump sugar, . . 1,418 10,254 

Grape sugar, . . 1,388 10,038 

* Kilogrammetres are convertible into foot-pounds by multiplying by 7.232: one 
kilogrammetre being equal to 7.232 foot-pounds. 



ALIMENTARY PEIKCIPLES. 67 

Nitrogenous matters, as has been previously explained, do not undergo 
complete oxidation within the body, a portion of the compound being sep- 
arated and eliminated under the form of urea in an unoxidized condition. 

Taking lean beef, and viewing it as oxidized to the extent which occurs 
in the animal system, one gramme (15.432 grains) in a dried state will 
develop energy capable of raising 2,047 kilogrammes a metre high, or 
14,803 pounds a foot high. 

Such is the modern way of regarding food in reference to its applica- 
tion to force-production. 



THE CARBO-HYDRATES, 

Forming a second systematic group of non-nitrogenous alimentary prin- 
ciples, are compounds in which the hydrogen and oxygen exist in the pro- 
portion to form water. Hence, these compounds have been designated 
hydrates of carbon or carbo-hydrates. It must not, however, be inferred 
that the elements are in reality grouped as the name would imply. There 
is no ground for such a conclusion. All that can be said is that the re- 
spective quantities of the elements are such as would form water. But 
from this it does not follow that they exist in combination as water, to be 
then linked as such to the carbon. Comprised in the group of compounds 
we have starch, cane-sugar, grape-sugar, lactine (sugar of milk), inosite 
(muscle-sugar), amyloid substance, gum, dextrine, cellulose, woody fibre, 
lactic acid, acetic acid. 

Starch (C^jH^gO^J [CgH^gOJ. — Starch may be regarded as the most 
important alimentary principle of the group, on account of its entering so 
largely as it does into some of our staple articles of food. It is met 
with only in vegetable products, and is found stored up in the form of 
little granules, or solid particles, in many seeds, roots, stems, and some 
fruits. Each granule is made up of a series of concentric layers, the ex- 
ternal beins^ of a firmer or more indurated nature than the rest. In cold 
water the granules remain unaltered, but when subjected to the influ- 
ence of boiling water they swell up, burst, and form a mucilage which 
assumes a gelatinous nature on being allowed to cool. 

Starch constitutes a principle which, as long as it remains as such, re- 
sists absorption from the alimentary canal. At least, all that can be said 
is that a few particles, like finely divided particles of other kinds, as of 
charcoal and sulphur, have been known to find their way, in some manner 
or other, through the walls of the alimentary canal into the blood-vessels. 
To serve, therefore, as an alimentary article, it must undergo a prelimi- 
nary metamorphosis to fit it for absorption, and this is effected by the 
process of digestion. 

The influence exerted upon starch in the digestive system leads to its 
conversion, in the first instance, into dextrine, which has only a very 
transitory existence, and then into sugar — an agent which possesses the 
property of being easily susceptible of absorption. Thus it is that starch 
is prepared by the digestive apparatus for undergoing absorption. 

There are various secretions that are endowed with the power of trans- 
forming starch into sugar. I will speak, in the first place, of the action 
of the saliva in this respect. 

When starch has been brouofht into the most favorable condition for 
metamorphosis, as by subjection to the influence of boiling water, it is 



68 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

very speedily converted into sugar upon being brought into contact with 
human saliva. In the solid form, however, or whilst the granules remain 
in an unruptured state, the transformation is much less speedily effected. 
Kow, it happens that our food is not long delayed in the mouth, and that 
the starch, as we usually consume it, is not in the most favorable con- 
dition for metamorphosis. It may, therefore, be considered that during 
the accomplishment of the first step of the digestive process, viz., the ac- 
tion which is exerted while the food is in the mouth, little, if any, con- 
version of starch into sugar takes place. Moreover, although the human 
saliva enjoys the property above mentioned, yet the saliva of many of 
the lower animals fails, it has been found, to possess a similar capacity. 

The transformative power of saliva is also checked by the presence of 
an acid. Hence, when the stomach is reached, and the food arrives in 
contact with its acid secretion, any change that might occur from the pro- 
longed admixture of starch and saliva is prevented. In the ruminant 
animal, however, the food, after being a first time swallowed, is retained 
for a while in a simple receptacle, a favorable condition being here pre- 
sented for the exercise of the transformative action of the saliva. The 
same likewise holds good in the case of the crop of the bird. 

It has been suggested by Dr. Bence Jones that the secretion of the 
stomach, by virtue of the acid belonging to it, is capable of effecting 
some conversion of starch into sugar. The amount of change, however, 
that can be thus exerted is probably not sufficient to warrant our looking 
upon it as possessing any material extent of physiological significance. 

Passing from the stomach, the food reaches the small intestine — the 
part of the alimentary canal which may be regarded as forming the main 
seat of the digestion of starch. The secretion both of the pancreas and 
of the glands of the intestinal walls possesses the power of acting ener- 
getically upon starch, and within the intestinal canal there exist the most 
favorable conditions for the exercise of the transformative power enjoyed 
by these fluids. The food, for instance, has been reduced to a semifluid 
state before reaching the intestine, where its admixture with the secre- 
tions in question takes place. The two are then urged slowly along by 
the peristaltic movement of the intestinal canal, and thus cannot fail to 
become thoroughly incorporated together. Subjected in this way to 
prolonged contact with each other, and at the same time exposed to the 
equable and 'elevated temperature which belongs to the locality, nothing 
could be more favorable for the occurrence of the metamorphosis. As 
the transformation of the starch is accomplished, the resulting sugar is 
removed by absorption, passing, simply by virtue of its diffusibility, into 
the circulatino^ current within the blood-vessels. 

Microscopic examination shows that in this conversion of starch into 
dextrine, in the first place, and afterward into sugar, the granules be- 
come softened and gradually broken up. Individual lamellae have been 
seen to become detached and subsequently to undergo disintegration — 
isolated shreds having been brought into view with the aid of the iodine 
test. The farther the starch is traced onward in the intestinal canal 
the smaller do the granules become, in consequence of the gradually ad- 
vancing disintegration and solution which they undergo from the surface 
inward. 

The power of digesting starch is not by any means such as to secure 
the digestion of all that enters the alimentar\' canal as food. Starch- 
granules, especially when the starch has been ingested in the raw state, 
have been frequently shown to pass off" from the alimentary canal in con- 



ALIMENTARY PErS^CIPLES. 69 

siderable numbers with the evacuations, both in man and in the lower 
animals. 

Cane-sugar (G^^^fi^^) IP^^^S^^^- — There are various kinds of 
sugar, and this is the crystallizable variety, which is so extensively em- 
ployed as an article of food. It is produced only by the vegetable king- 
dom, and is contained in the juice of the stems, roots, and other parts of 
various plants. It is present in a dissolved state in these juices instead 
of existing in a solid form, as is the case with starch. 

The properties of solubility and diffusibility which cane-sugar pos- 
sesses dispense with the necessity of any aid to absorption being afforded 
by the digestive process. All that is required is that it should be either 
dissolved or that there should be liquid to dissolve it, and its diffusibility 
will enable it, without any preparatory process, to pass by absorption 
from the alimentary canal into the current of fluid contained in the blood- 
vessels. 

Although cane-sugar, however, requires no digestion to fit it for 
absorption, it may be considered probable that it undergoes conversion 
into grape-sugar, certainly in part, if not wholly, before leaving the ali- 
mentary canal. If cane-sugar be introduced into one of the vessels of 
the general circulation, it passes off from the system without being 
utilized, and escapes, still in the form of cane-sugar, with the urine. If, 
however, cane-suo-ar be introduced into the alimentary canal bevond the 
capacity, say, for subsequent assimilation, sugar similarly passes off with 
the urine, but now in the form of grape-sugar instead of cane-sugar; and 
if this conversion is not effected in the alimentary canal, the liver must 
be the organ in which it occurs. Lehmann asserts that he has ascer- 
tained, as the result of repeated experiments, that when rabbits are fed 
with beet-root, which contains cane- and not grape-sugar, grape-sugar is 
to be found in the stomach and intestine, and no cane-sugar. Even 
when large quantities of cane-sugar were dissolved in water and injected 
into the stomach of rabbits, grape-sugar was the only kind of sugar which 
he could detect in the stomach and intestine. Similar results, Lehmann 
adds, were obtained in numerous experiments of a like nature, conducted 
by Von Becker, and it was only rarely that cane-sugar could be traced as 
far as the middle of the small intestine, even in those cases in which large 
quantities had been introduced into the stomachs of cats and rabbits. 
Since neither the saliva nor the gastric juice, he continues, is able to ef- 
fect an immediate conversion of cane-sugar into grape-sugar, it only re- 
mains to be assumed, as suggested by Von Becker, that the transforma- 
tion is produced by the action of the substances in a state of change 
which are always present in the alimentary canal. 

There is nothing surprising in the convertibility, under these circum- 
stances, of cane-sugar into grape-sugar, seeing with what facility the 
change is effected by chemical and other agencies. Boiling, for instance, 
with a little sulphuric acid, causes an immediate metamorphosis. Cane- 
sugar in the form of syrup, maintained long near the boiling-point, and 
without the aid of any chemical agent, undergoes partial conversion into 
grape-sugar. In the case of beet-root, also, I have noticed that grape- 
sugar has made its appearance simply as a result of keeping, and more 
strikingly so when it has been reduced to a pulp and mixed with a de- 
composable liquid like saliva, or even with water. 

Grape-sugar {fd ^^^^O ^^-Vl^O) [C,H^p^,Hp'l.— Grape-sugar is met 
with extensively as a vegetable product in the juices of many fruits and 
other parts of plants, and is also readily obtainable from other carbohy- 



70 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

drates by chemical means, and likewise by the metamorphosic influence 
of organic bodies in a state of change. It may, perhaps, be set down as 
representing the lowest, in a chemico-physiological point of view, of the 
neutral compounds of the carbohydrate group, as it constitutes that form 
into which they are all easily convertible, and into which they appear to 
have a tendency to descend. It may also be considered as having its ele- 
ments in looser combination, as it yields to oxidizing influences w^hich 
the others resist. Upon this depends the reaction which specially occurs 
in this form of sugar when in contact with the oxide of copper and some 
other metallic oxides, at a temperature of ebullition — a reaction which is 
turned to account for analytical purposes. 

Grape-sugar may constitute a product arising in the animal system 
from the transformation of another form of carbohydrate — amyloid sub- 
stance — to be presently referred to, which exists as a deposit in the liver 
and some other structures of the body. 

It is a substance which requires no preliminary process of digestion to 
fit it for absorption, and it may be considered that the main part of that 
which is received into the alimentary canal passes without modification 
into the blood-vessels, by virtue of the physical property of diffusibility 
which it enjoys. 

Grape-sugar, however, is readily convertible, by organic bodies in a 
state of change, into lactic acid, a principle in which the elements are 
combined in precisely the same relative proportion as in anhydrous grape- 
sugar, one atom of sugar corresponding with two atoms of the acid. Now, 
such bodies freely exist within the alimentary canal, and probably occa- 
sion a transformation of some of the ingested sugar into lactic acid — 
through what is styled, in fact, the lactic-acid fermentation. Lehmann 
comments upon the exceptionally acid condition of the contents of the 
stomach, and likewise of the intestine, after the introduction of sugar or 
starch in quantity into the alimentary canal. In the case of some experi- 
ments of my own on rabbits which had been fed exclusively on starch 
and sugar for a few days previous to being killed, I was struck with the 
remarkably acid state of the contents of the stomach. In some experi- 
ments, also, upon rats which had been for some days kept upon sugar 
only, I noticed a strongly sour smell on laying open the abdominal cavity 
directly after death. 

It is known that in some cases of dyspepsia there is an undue pres- 
ence of acid in the stomach. The secretion of the organ being of an acid 
nature, the condition in question might be ascribable to an inordinate 
discharge by the secreting structures, and such, it may be considered, is 
not unfrequently the case. There are grounds, however, for believing 
that the undue acidity is sometimes attributable to a development of acid 
from the contents of the stomach. When digestion is carried out in a 
natural way the tendency to ordinary decomposition and fermentation is 
held in check; but when the process is defectively performed, changes of 
an ordinary nature are allowed, to a greater or less extent, to proceed. 
Now, saccharine material in this way undergoing the lactic-acid fermenta- 
tion, would suffice to account for the unnatural condition in question ; 
and, in accordance with the view expressed, it is noticeable that articles 
of food impregnated with sugar are particularly apt to give rise to acidity 
where a disposition to the derangement exists. 

When saccharine matter is metamorphosed into lactic acid in the man- 
ner above referred to, the latter (it may be assumed) becomes absorbed, 
and subsequently undergoes, in the system, more or less complete oxida- 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 7l 

tion, in the manner that will be pointed out as occurring with organic 
acids in general. 

The sugar which is absorbed from the alimentary canal will be subse- 
quently traced on in the system when 1 have gone through the list of car- 
bohydrates. The fitting time will then have arrived for speaking of the 
assimilation and destination of the group taken altogether. 

Lactine,^ or sugar of milk (Cj.H^^O.J [ C^.H^p^o, or Cj^H^.O^, 
H^O]. — This variety of sugar constitutes an animal product, and its only 
source is the milk of mammals. Very closely allied in its properties to 
grape-sugar, it appears to comport itself in precisely the same manner as 
this principle in the alimentary canal. Nothing, therefore, requires to be 
further said about it. 

Inosite, or muscle-sugar (Cj,H^,0j, + 4HO) [C^H^.O^, 'H,0].— This is 
another animal carbo-hydrate. It was not long since discovered by Scherer 
amongst the constituents of the juice of flesh. According to Lehmann, it 
has hitherto been obtained from the flesh of the heart. With so limited 
a source it can have little or no significance in an alimentary point of 
view. Unlike grape-sugar, it does not reduce the cupro-potassic solution, 
nor does it undergo the vinous fermentation with yeast, but in the pres- 
ence of caseine it becomes tranformed into lactic and butyric acids. 

Amyloid substance (0,,H,,0,„ or C,,H,„0,„H-2H0) [C,H,,0„ or C,H,„ 
Oj, H^O]. — This is also an animal product. It was discovered by Bernard 
as the material yielding the sugar obtainable from the liver, and was 
designated by him glycogen. Besides the liver, where it may occur largely, 
some other structures yield it. It has a much more extensive existence 
and distribution among the tissues in the fetal state than afterwards. It 
is also discoverable in the placenta. 

One of its most noteworthy characters is the striking facility and ra- 
pidity with which it undergoes conversion into sugar under the influence 
of a ferment operating under appropriate conditions. This principle pos- 
sesses an important bearing in relation to the assimilation of sugar, as will 
appear from what is shortly to be mentioned. 

Gum (Cj„HjPj J [^12^22^11]- — Grum, like starch, extensively pervades 
the vegetable kingdom. It is met with in the juices of nearly all plants, 
and occurs in its purest form as an exudation upon the bark of certain 
trees. With water it produces a tasteless, ropy, mucilaginous liquid, pos- 
sessing strongly adhesive properties, which render it a useful article for 
various purposes. It is convertible into sugar by boiling with dilute sul- 
I)huric acid. 

Gum is, doubtless, susceptible of being utilized as an alimentary 
principle, although nothing definite is known about what becomes of it 
when introduced into the alimentary canal. Although soluble, it is of 
very low diflusibility, and, belonging to the class of colloids, is, according 
to Graham, only two and a half times more dialyzable than albumen. 

Its properties, therefore, are such as to preclude its passage to any 
great extent, by absorption into the blood-vessels. We have no tangible 
evidence that, like starch, it undergoes conversion in the alimentary canal 
into sugar. In the first place, none of the secretions are found to possess 
the power of effecting the conversion, and, in the next, no sugar is dis- 
coverable in the alimentary canal after gum has been administered. I have 
experimented both upon rabbits and dogs with reference to this point. 
In rabbits, to which nothing else but gum in solution had been adminis- 
tered for a few days before death, no sugar was subsequently discovera- 
ble in either the stomach or intestine. After the administration of gum, 



72 A TREATISE ON" FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

also, in conjunction with animal food, to a dog, no trace of sugar was to 
be detected in the alimentary canal. 

Lehmann, in one part of his " Physiological Chemistry," goes as far 
as to say that gum remains unabsorbed. Farther on he speaks of its ab- 
sorption as being extremely limited, if, indeed, it occurs at all. There 
are considerations, however, which, I think, must be held as indirectly 
showing that, under some form or other, its elements, to some, if not to 
a large extent, reach the circulation. 

The first consideration is this. Amyloid substance, which has been 
before referred to as forming a constituent of the liver, is evidently de- 
rivable from the absorbed products of the food, and under the absence of 
food it is noticeable that it entirely disappears from the organ. Now, 
when substances like starch and sugar have been exclusively administered, 
the liver is found to be charged with amyloid substance, and in a series of 
experiments which I some time ago conducted I observed, after the exclu- 
sive administration of gum, a similar existence of amyloid substance in 
the liver. It is true the amount present was not very large, but, never- 
theless, there was a notable quantity to deal with. 

The next consideration is that the carbohydrates, which are absorba- 
ble and convertible within the system into sugar, increase the sugar 
eliminated with the urine in cases of diabetes. To a patient suffering 
from this disease, and under very strict regimen and observation, gum 
was administered, and a distinct, although not a large, augmentation in 
the eliminated sugar was noticed. 

Dextrine (C^^HipOio) [^e^io^sl* — Dextrine does not occur as a natu- 
ral product, but constitutes an artificial gum, derivable from the trans- 
formation of starch, with which, in composition, it is identical. It is 
producible from starch by the action of heat, the mineral acids, and the 
ferment — diastase, which is developed during the process of fermenta- 
tion. It has been suggested that it behaves in the alimentary canal like 
gum; but, being readily convertible, in the same manner as starch, by some 
of the digestive secretions into sugar, it is probable that, when it happens 
to be consumed, it is transformed into sugar, and in that state absorbs. 

Cellulose (Cj^HjgOjo) [C^gHg^^O^J. — This constitutes the basis of the 
structure forming the walls of the cells, fibres, and vessels of plants. It 
is presented in a nearly pure form in cotton, linen, and elder pith. It 
offers strong resistance to solution, but yields, however, to the more pow- 
erful chemical agents. It is convertible first into dextrine, and then into 
sugar, by boiling with dilute sulphuric acid. 

Closely allied to cellulose of the vegetable kingdom is a principle 
which was discovered by C. Schmidt in the outer tunic of some of the 
lower mollusca. It is known as animal cellulose, or tunicine (Cj^HjpOjJ 
[CgHjjjOJ, and possesses significance from furnishing an instance in which 
a carbohydrate enters into the composition, if even it does not form the 
basis, of an animal texture. 

From the resistance offered by cellulose to solvents, it can scarcely 
constitute an article of any decided alimentary value for the generality 
of animals. It seems, however, that in the case of the beaver a special 
aptitude exists for digesting this principle. 

Lignine or icoody fibre (Cj^HjgOjJ [OgHj^OJ. — Lignine forms the 
pervading solid matter which is deposited within the vegetable fibre, and 
gives to wood the property of hardness. It is of an exceedingly insoluble 
nature, and it is only in exceptional instances that it can do otherwise 
than escape the action of the digestive juices. 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 73 

Lactic acid (C^H^J [HC3HP3] and acetic acid (C,H303 + HO) 
[HC2H3O2] also belong chemically to the group of carbohydrates accord- 
ing to the old formulae, but in a physiological point of view they proba- 
bly stand in quite a distinct position. They will be subsequently consid- 
ered in connection with the next group of substances, which will be found 
to include other organic acids. 

I now come to speak of the assimilation and utilization of the carbo- 
hydrates. 

It has been stated that some conversion of saccharine matter into 
lactic acid may occur within the alimentary canal. It can scarcely be 
considered, however, that this transformation takes place to a sufficient 
extent to be deserving of much consideration as regards the question of 
utilization. It may be assumed that the lactic acid so produced becomes 
absorbed, and is subsequently mainly disposed of by undergoing oxida- 
tion within the system, as happens with the organic acids in general. 

It is as saccharine matter that the carbohydrates, in the ordinary 
course, reach the circulation, and the saccharine matter thus derived is 
conveyed by the portal system of vessels to the liver, where it can be shown 
to be detained and subjected to metamorphosis — a process which may be 
regarded as forming its first step of assimilation. 

That the saccharine matter is detained, as has been asserted, in the 
liver, is attested by the fact that if it should reach the general circulation 
it will immediately become recognizable in the urine. 

Under natural circumstances, for instance, the urine, on being exam- 
ined in the ordinary way, gives no reaction with the tests for sugar, al- 
though, it is true, when large quantities are operated upon, and evaporation 
and separation of the other ingredients effected, sugar, to a minute ex- 
tent, is found to exist. On introducing sugar, however, into the general 
circulatory system, it is found to pass off with the urine, and to be more 
or less strongly recognizable by the ordinary mode of testing. 

It used to be thought that sugar was capable of being oxidized on 
being conveyed by the blood through the lungs. Liebig suggested this 
view on theoretical grounds, and Bernard's experiments supported it. 
With regard to the theoretical proposition, it does not appear to me to 
demand consideration, and Bernard's experiments I have shown, in another 
place,* to have received a fallacious interpretation. There is no appre- 
ciably recognizable destruction of sugar, in fact, anywhere effected within 
the circulatory system; hence, sugar in any way reaching the general cir- 
culation will be carried in due course to the kidney, and by virtue of its 
property of diffusibility will escape with the urine. 

Lehmann's experiments and my own are in accord upon this point. 
Lehmann, for instance, states that, without including previous experi- 
ments, he had recently injected grape-sugar into the jugular vein of 
thirty-seven rabbits and dogs, and in no single instance was grape-sugar 
absent from the urine. He further remarks that sugar passes so quickly 
into the urine that it may frequently be detected five minutes after its in- 
jection, and this even when only one-tenth of a gramme {\\ grain) has 
been injected. 

If, then, sugar passes off in this way with the urine when introduced 
into the general circulation, and sugar is not similarly to be detected in 
the urine by ordinary examination under natural circumstances, it becomes 



Researches on Sugar Formation in the Liver, Philosophical Transactions, 1860. 



74 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

evident that the sugar absorbed from the alimentary canal must be 
stopped on its transit before reaching so far. 

Such is what occurs when ordinary circumstances exist; but if sugar 
be ingested in excessive quantity, and particularly after fasting, when 
absorption is at the height of its activity, sugar in notable amount is to 
be recognized in the urine. It may be here inferred that its rapidity of 
entrance exceeds, for the time, the capacity of the liver for detaining and 
assimilating it, and that thereby some passes through the organ and 
reaches the general circulation. In illustration of what has been men- 
tioned, it may be stated that the urine has been observed to have been 
rendered temporarily saccharine in man by the ingestion of a considera- 
ble quantity of syrup the first thing in the morning, before any food had 
been taken. Also, in my experiments, where rabbits have been fed for a 
few days solely on starch and sugar, and dogs have had administered to 
them a large quantity of sugar with their animal food, sugar has been 
freely discoverable in the urine. 

Not only have we this evidence to denote that sugar is naturally 
stopped on its passage through the liver, but the principle can be identi- 
fied, as I will proceed to show, into which, on being detained, it is trans- 
formed. 

I have already referred to amyloid substance as a material of the car- 
bo-hydrate group which has been discovered to exist in the liver. It is a 
principle which possesses diametrically opposite physical properties to 
sugar, being a colloid, and therefore non-diffusible, instead of a crystalloid 
and diffusible. By micro-chemical examination it can be shown to be 
lodged in the hepatic cells, within which its non-diffusibility permits it to 
be retained for proceeding on, as it may be assumed to do, in the train of 
assimilative metamorphoses. Now, one of the sources of this amyloid 
substance is evidently saccharine matter — at least such, I think, will be 
conceded, on casting the eye through the following resume of experimen- 
tal results that I obtained, and published in the " Philosophical Transac- 
tions " for 1860. A very striking effect, it will be noticed, was produced 
through the medium of food on the condition of the liver, and it is to the 
amount of amyloid substance that it was attributable. 

In the first place, an observation conducted upon eleven dogs, which 
had been restricted for some time to an animal diet, gives the state existing 
under an absence of the introduction of sugar with the food. The dogs 
were carefully weighed, and also the livers, and the figures furnished 
showed a relative weight of 1 to 30 — the weight of the livers, in other 
words, amounted only to one-thirtieth of the body- weight. 

A quantitative determination of the amyloid substance present was 
made in seven out of the eleven instances, and the mean amount given 
was 7.19 per cent. 

To four other dogs animal food was given with an admixture of sugar, 
the quantity of sugar administered amounting to about a quarter of a 
pound daily. In these the results of weighing showed a remarkably in- 
creased relative weight of liver, the proportion being as 1 to 16^ of body- 
weight instead of as 1 to 30. The quantity of amyloid substance present 
amounted, as a mean for the four livers, to 14.5 per cent. 

Five other dogs were kept for several days upon a purely vegetable 
diet, the food consisting of barley-meal and potatoes, or, where this was 
refused, of bread and potatoes. The weight of the livers was here found 
to amount to as much as one-fifteenth of the body-weight — exactly double 
the relative weight under purely animal food. In two of the instances 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 75 

no quantitative determination of the amyloid substance was made, but 
from the rough examination conducted it was evidently present in very 
large quantity. It was, in fact, these identical livers that first suggested 
the idea which led me to prosecute my subsequent inquiry. The three 
other livers were subjected to analysis, and the amyloid substance aver- 
aged the large amount of 17.23 per cent. 

From these observations it appears that the ingestion of sugar and 
starch produces an augmentation of the size of the liver, due to an in- 
crease of the amyloid substance contained in it. The inference naturally 
to be drawn is that absorbed saccharine matter, on reaching the liver, is 
transformed by the assimilative action of the organ into amyloid sub- 
stance, which is stored up in its cells for subsequent further change, pre- 
liminary to being appropriated to the purposes of life. That the saccha- 
rine matter derived from the food becomes thus transformed into amyloid 
substance is even more strongly exemplified by the results obtained in 
the following experiment performed upon rabbits. 

A couple of full-grown rabbits were selected, which as closely as pos- 
sible resembled each other in size and condition. To the one, starch and 
^rape-sugar only were administered, and to the other, no food at all. 

The rabbit which had fasted was found to weigh 3 lbs. 1 oz., and its 
liver 1^ oz. The rabbit fed on starch and grape-sugar weighed 3 lbs. 4 oz., 
and its liver 24 oz., or just double the weight of the other. In the liver 
of the rabbit that had fasted there was practically no amyloid substance 
present, while the other contained 15.4: per cent. 

Upon another occasion a couple of half-grown rabbits, also as closely 
as possible resembling each other in size and condition, were submitted 
to experiment. One was fed on starch and ca?ze-sugar (cane-sugar being 
used this time instead of grape, as in the first experiment), and the other, 
as before, was kept fasting. The latter was found to weigh 1 lb. 14 oz., 
and its liver 1 oz., with no amyloid substance present. The former 
weighed 1 lb. 14f oz., and its liver 2|- oz., with amyloid substance present 
to the extent of 16.9 per cent.* 

Nothing could be more simple than the conditions here dealt with, 
and nothing could more conclusively show that saccharine matter con- 
duces to the production of amyloid substance. But, as has been seen, 
amyloid substance is also present in the liver when no saccharine matter 
has been supplied from without, as, for instance, in the case of an animal 
restricted to a purely animal diet. Under such circumstances it is prob- 
ably derived from the metamorphosis of the complemental part to urea, 
which takes origin in the splitting up of the nitrogenous molecule. It 
has been, for example, already shown how the nitrogenous portion of food 
undergoes conversion into urea, which is eliminated, and a residue of car- 
bon, hydrogen, and oxygen, which is retained for utilization in the sys- 
tem. Now, there is evidence producible which tends to show that the 
splitting up of the nitrogenous molecule occurs in the liver, and nothing 
is more probable than that the utilizable non-nitrogenous portion passes 
on in the same way as sugar into amyloid substance. 

The view here enunciated receives support from the relation that has 
been observed by Dr. Sydney Ringer to exist between the urea and sugar 
eliminated in diabetes mellitus when either abstinence from food or re- 
striction to a purely animal diet is enjoined. Under such circumstances 

* Full details of the experiments upon this subject are to be found in the author's 
work, Researches on the Nature and Treatment of Diabetes, p. 89 et peq. 



76 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

it was noticed that the urea and sugar rose and fell together in almost 
^exactly the same ratio. Now, in diabetes mellitus it happens that there 
is a want of power to assimilate and make use of the carbohydrate group 
of principles, which occasions their escape, unutilized, with the urine ; 
and, if the complemental part to urea of the nitrogenous molecule fol- 
lows the same course in the system (and it has been suggested that it is 
converted in the liver into amyloid substance) as the carbohydrate, it 
is only natural to expect that where the defect in question exists it should 
pass off from the system in the same manner as a carbohydrate, and that 
thus, where there is only nitrogenous matter as a source for the elimina- 
ted sugar, this principle and urea — the other representative of the nitro- 
genous molecule — should bear a relation in amount to each other. 

To amyloid substance, then, it may be considered that the carbohy- 
drates can be followed. We now, however, reach a break in the chain of 
metamorphoses, and have to step over some missing links. But, if we 
cannot further trace the absorbed sugar in open view onward, and point 
out the particular changes it next undergoes, still we learn, in another 
way, that it leads on to the production of fat; and let us examine the 
grounds on which this statement is based. 

A sharp controversy was carried on, some years back, between the 
German and the French schools, upon the point as to whether animals pos- 
sess the power of forming fat. Liebig, on the one side, partly upon ex- 
perimental evidence and partly by a train of reasoning, contended that 
in the animal system the carbohydrates were convertible into fat. Du- 
mas and Boussingault, on the other hand, asserted that the food of ani- 
mals contained preformed fat sufficient to account for that met with in 
the body, and thence that there was no need for a fat-forming capacity 
to exist. 

This controversy gave rise to the performance of a number of experi- 
ments which have proved of considerable service to science, inasmuch as 
they have led to the matter in question being placed in a definitely settled 
position. 

Huber's experiments on bees are the first that can be said to have af- 
forded any substantial evidence bearing on the point. They go toward 
showing that from sugar the animal can produce wax, which is admitted 
to belong to the group of fats. 

Grundlach subsequently repeated Huber's experiments, and obtained 
<3onfirmatory results. Both these experimentalists, however, neglected to 
prove that the wax yielded during subsistence upon a saccharine diet had 
not been drawn from a pre-existing store in the body of the animal. Du- 
mas and Milne-Edwards* conjointly undertook the performance of ex- 
periments to decide the point. They assigned to themselves the task of 
first of all determining the amount of wax existing in the bees at the 
commencement of the experiment, and then compared this with the wax 
formed into comb, and that remaining in the animals at the conclusion of 
the experiment. They started by restricting the animal to a diet of pure 
sugar, but failed in obtaining a satisfactory development of comb. They, 
therefore, abandoned experimenting with sugar, and substituted honey. 
XJpon this they succeeded in getting, from one swarm out of four on 
which they experimented, a fair yield of wax. As the honey itself con- 
tains a minute portion of wax, this also required to be looked to as one 
of the items to be taken into account. It is not necessary to give here 



* Annales de Chimie, tome xiv., p. 400. 1845. 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 77 

the actual numerical results obtained. It will be sufficient to state that 
the amount of wax formed and the fatty matter existing in the animals- 
at the conclusion of the experiment greatly exceeded the fat ingested with 
the honey and that pre-existing in the bees, a result which shows that ar 
veal p7''oduct ion of wax took place. In the words of the experimentalists, 
the production of wax may be, therefore, said to constitute a true animal 
operation, and consequently the opinion entertained by the older natural- 
ists, aftd by some modern chemists, among whom one of the experiment 
talists themselves (viz., Dumas) had previously found it necessary to range 
himself, must be set aside. 

In the production of the /b^e gras a further proof is afforded of the 
formation of fatty matter within the animal system. The process of fat- 
tening geese for obtaining this article of luxury is carried on so exten- 
sively in Alsace as to form an important industrial employment in that 
locality. Strasburg constitutes the headquarters of the trade; and in 
Murray's " Handbook for Travellers on the Continent " we are told that 
the cellars of nearly every house in the town form the scene of jfoie gras 
production. Almost from time immemorial the goose has been turned to- 
account in the manner under consideration. The Roman epicures, it is- 
said, delighted in the enlarged liver of the goose as a delicacy at the table. 
In our own time the demand for the article is widely spread, and propor- 
tionately met. 

The modus operandi for producing the fatty liver is described to b© 
this: The geese, in a lean state to start with, are placed singly in wooden 
coops just large enough to admit them without allowing them to turn 
round. There is an opening in front for the head to project. Below 
stands a wooden trough, kept always full of water, in which fragments- 
of wood charcoal are immersed, and a little salt introduced. Morning and 
evening', maize or Indian corn, previously soaked in water, is crammed 
down the bird's throat to repletion. During the day it " drinks and guz- 
zles" in the water before it. In about a month the breathing becomes 
difficult, and then it is known to be necessary to kill the animal, other- 
wise death would occur spontaneously. The liver is now found to weigh 
from one to two pounds. The goose itself is fit for food for the table. 
On being roasted as much as from three to five pounds of fat, it is said^ 
escape from it. The fattening process is carried on in cellars, or places- 
where but little light is admitted, and the winter is the season selected. 
It is not in every case that it is successful. Some of the geese employed 
fail to turn out so as to allow the fattener's expectations to be realized. 

Persoz,* a professor in the Faculty of Science of Strasburg, and there- 
fore located in the midst of the operation, applied the advantage thus pre- 
sented to account for investigating the question of the production of fatty 
matter from the carbohydrates. 

It is known that maize, the article employed in fattening the geese^ 
is charged to a greater extent with fatty matter than the generality of the 
cereal grains. Was this the secret of the phenomenon of foie gras pro- 
duction ? Persoz undertook to determine whether the fat contained in 
the food sufficed to account for the accumulation of fat that occurred. 
Taking a number of geese, he killed one to begin with, and ascertained 
the amount of fat existing in the body. This served as the basis of com- 
parison. The others were fed in the way usually adopted by the fattener, 
and were killed between the nineteenth and twenty-fourth days. Persoz 

* Annales de Chimie, tome xiv., p. 408. 1845. 



78 A TREATISE ON EOOD AND DIETETICS. 

remarks that in his neighborhood expert fatteners assert that the process 
cannot be effected with profit if the goose is obliged to be killed before 
the eighteenth day or after the twenty-fourth. In fact, after a certain 
period the animal, it is stated, begins to lose instead of gain weight, and this 
period is known by the dejections assuming a lactescent character. An 
account was taken of the amount of food ingested, and the fat contained 
in it was estimated, and found to be altogether inadequate to explain the 
accumulation of fat which examination showed had taken place in the fat- 
tened animal. Persoz's results clearly convinced him that in the fattening 
process the goose forms a true laboratory or manufactory of fat from the 
starch and sugar in its food. The liver became five or six times larger 
than at the beginning, but the deposit in the liver occurs only as a part 
of a general process, fat being so accumulated as to cause the blood to 
assume a lactescent character, and also being correspondingly distributed 
through the various parts of the body. The blood, it was stated, was 
found to have undergone a further modification, namely, as regards its 
albuminous element, the serum failing to give the usual precipitate of 
albumen with heat and nitric acid. 

Boussingault * repeated Persoz's experiments, and obtained confirma- 
tor}^ results. His investigations were conducted upon eleven geese, five 
of which were examined in the lean state, and the remaining six, after 
the process of fattening, which in his case was carried on for a period of 
thirty-one days. Boussingault estimated the fat contained in the dejec- 
tions as well as in the food of the animals. This amounted to something 
considerable, and, therefore, correspondingly increased the amount of fat 
that had to be reckoned as formed within the system. 

Boussingault likewise experimented, in a similar manner and with the 
same result, on ducks. When fed with 140 grammes (about 5 ounces) of 
maize pei' diem, a duck of rather over 25- pounds weight gained, he says, 
in fifteen days, 180 to 200 grammes (about 65- to 7 ounces) of fat. 

He also tried if the same result could be obtained on substituting 
rice, in which fatty matter is at a minimum, for maize. In the case of 
two out of three ducks operated upon no marked increase of fat was 
observable. In the third, however, an increase appears to have occurred 
— assuming, that is, that the bird was not in reality fatter at the begin- 
ning of the experiment than it was estimated to be, which may be re- 
garded as an open point. 

Other ducks were fed on the same quantity of rice, to which some 
butter was added, and, Boussingault states, were rapidly raised to a de- 
gree of fatness truly remarkable. 

A duck which had been fed onlv on butter died at the end of three 
weeks of starvation. Butter, it is said, exuded from all parts of the 
body, and the feathers seemed as if they had been soaked in melted 
butter. 

It thus seems, from these observations on geese and ducks, that con- 
clusive evidence is afforded that the carbohydrate element of food is 
susceptible of undergoing conversion into fat, but that, for this result to 
ensue, it must not be administered without a due accompaniment of the 
other alimentary principles. 

It may here be mentioned that the practice has prevailed, it appears, 
in some parts of this country, of fattening fowls for the London market 
in a somewhat similar manner to the process resorted to with the Stras- 



* Annales de Chimie, tome xiv., p. 461. 1845. 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 70 

burg geese. Although in this case fat is added to the food, yet, doubt- 
less, the modus operandi is the same. Mavor * says: *'They are put up 
in a dark place and crammed with a paste made of barley-meal, mutton 
suet, and some treacle or coarse sugar mixed with milk, and are found to 
be completely ripe in a fortnight. If kept longer the fever that is in- 
duced by this continued state of repletion renders them red and unsala- 
ble, and frequently kills them." 

Boussingault f furthermore experimented upon pigs with reference to 
the point under consideration. Like in the case of his ducks fed with 
rice, he found that pigs would not fatten on potatoes only, as on food of 
a less exclusively farinaceous nature. After a time they ceased to make 
progress in growth, and it was estimated that the fatty matter already 
contained in the potatoes ingested sufficed to account for whatever fatty 
accumulation occurred. When, however, the pigs were fed on potatoes 
mixed with " wash" — a refuse liquid derived from the kitchen and dairy, 
and, therefore, containing nitrogenous and fatty matter — fattening was 
observed to ensue, and the fat which accumulated was found greatly 
to exceed that introduced from without with the food, and from which 
it was evident that a formation of fat within the system must have oc- 
curred. 

Liebig adduces, J as giving support to his own view, some observa- 
tions of Boussingault on a milch cow, and expresses his astonishment that 
Boussingault, with the results that were before him, should oppose the 
opinion that the formation of fat occurs within the body. 

It appears from these researches of Boussingault that a milch cow fed 
on potatoes and chopped straw upon one occasion, and on potatoes and 
hay upon another, gave out in the form of butter far more fatty matter 
than was contained in the food ingested. Nay, it even appears, accord- 
ing to Liebig's calculation, that the cow's egesta contained as much fatty 
matter (substances soluble in ether) as the ingesta, and therefore the whole 
of the butter of the milk, amounting in the latter observation to Q\ pounds 
in six days, must be put down as having been derived from an internal pro- 
cess of formation. 

Dr. Lyon Playfair § has likewise made investigations of a similar 
character, and with a like result. A cow, subjected to observation 
for several days, yielded about a pound, sometimes more, sometimes 
less, of butter per diem in excess of the fatty matter contained in the 
food. 

Further, Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, from their extensive and very 
searching investigations into the fattening of animals, have abundantly 
confirmed Liebig's view. They say, with reference to some experiments 
on the fattening of pigs, carried on for a period of eight and ten weeks, j| 
that *' of the determined or estimated fat stored up in the increase, 
the proportion which could possibly have been derived from the ready 
formed fat of the food, even supposing the whole of that supplied 
had been assimilated, was so small as to leave no doubt whatever 
that a very large proportion of the stored-up fat must have been pro- 
duced from other constituents than the ready-formed fatty matter of 
the food." 



* Agricultural Reports of Berkshire. By William Mavor, LL. D. 1813. 
f Op. cit. , p. 419. X Aaimal Chemistry, 2d edition, p. 313. 

§ Philosophical Magazine, vol. xxiii., p. 287. 1843. 
U Ibid., vol. xxxii., p. 448. 1866. 



80 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

In the communication from which this extract has been taken they are 
discussing the question, not only as to whether a formation of fat can be 
shown to occur in the animal system, but whether it can be derived from 
both nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous matter; and the conclusion they 
arrive at from the evidence before them they sum up as follows: 

" First. — That certainly a large proportion of the fat of the herbivora 
fattened for human food must be derived from other substances than 
fatty matter in the food. 

^^ Second. — That when fattening animals are fed upon their most ap- 
propriate food much of their stored-up fat must be produced from the 
carbohydrates it supplies. 

^^TJiird. — That nitrogenous substances may also serve as a source of 
fat, more especially when it is in excess and the supply of available non- 
nitrogenous constituents is relatively defective." 

In addition to this array of evidence, one more instance may be re- 
ferred to, which affords a crowning proof, if such were wanted, of the 
truth of the view that has been advocated. MM. Lacaze-Duthiers and 
Riche * have shown that the fat which abounds in the larva of the cynips^ 
an animal which is developed in the interior of the gall-nut, cannot pos- 
sibly, from the composition of the nut, be directly derived from its food. 
In the starchy matter, however, existing around, the animal is supplied 
with material for its formation. 

Nothing further, then, may be considered to be required to show that 
the carbohydrates conduce to the production of fat. From what has 
been already stated, however, it will be remembered that it is not when 
ingested alone that such production can take place. The process requires- 
the co-operation of nitrogenous in conjunction with saline matter, and it 
is probably through the medium of the change excited by the metamor- 
phosis of the former that the result is brought about. The researches, 
that have been referred to have shown that on a diet of potatoes and of 
rice-^— alimentary articles containing but a small amount of nitrogenized 
matter — no accumulation of fat is to be looked for. The combination of 
fat with the carbohydrates, it has been seen, conduces to the accumula-^ 
tion of fat in the body, but this may be due to the direct appropriation 
of the fat ingested, and not to its having anything to do with promoting^ 
the metamorphosis of the carbo-hydrates. 

Liebig has suggested the following as a representation of the chemi- 
cal change that may occur. It can only be looked upon, however, as- 
showing how, simply by the separation of carbonic acid and oxygen from 
the formula of a carbohydrate, the formula for fat may be left. There 
is no evidence that such is the actual manner in which the change occurs. 
Suppose, he says, that from one atom of starch (Oj^Hj^Ojo) we take one 
atom of carbonic acid (C0„) and seven atoms of oxygen, we have in the 
residue one of the empirical formulae for fat, viz., Cj^H^gO. 

Without professing to be able (at present, at least) to bring forward 
anything in the shape of proof that the liver is the organ in which the 
metamorphosis of sugar, finally or almost so, into fat occurs, there are 
grounds for believing that such is the case, and that the formation of 
amyloid substance constitutes the preliminary step in the process. For 
some years I have*been engaged in conducting researches upon this sub- 
ject, and have a large mass of evidence to deal withj but it has not yet 
assumed a shape sufficiently definite to induce me to commit myself, at 



* Annales des Sciences Natur. (Zoologie), 4me serie, tome xi., p. 81. 



ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 81 

present, to any decided expression of opinion regarding the manner in 
which the final result is attained. 

It now only remains for the ultimate use of the carbohydrates to be 
spoken of. In leading on to fat-production, nothing further need be said 
about their final application, the purposes subserved by fat having been 
fully gone into at an earlier part of this work. The question, however, 
confronts us, whether or not the carbohydrates contribute to force-pro- 
duction by undergoing direct oxidation in the system. That they do so 
we have nothing experimentally to show; and taking all that we know 
about them into account, my own opinion is that they do not. 

Saccharine matter, in which form the carbohydrates are mainly, if not 
wholly, absorbed from the alimentary canal, is naturally detained and 
metamorphosed by the liver, and, whenever it happens, no matter in what 
way, to reach the general circulation, it is immediately drawn upon and 
eliminated from the system by the kidneys. This appears to me to aiford 
a strono- aro-ument ao;ainst oxidation of saccharine matter occurrino; at 
least to any significant extent, within the circulatory system as one of the 
functional operations of life. 

Without any facts to support it, the older chemico-physiologists be- 
lieved that sugar was disposed of in this way. Mialhe, for instance, sug- 
gested that, under the influence of the alkali and oxygen of the blood, the 
sugar derived from the ingesta underwent oxidation, and that diabetes 
mellitus — a disease attended with the escape of sugar with the urine — 
was due to a defective oxidizing capacity, from the blood being deficient 
of its normal amount of alkali. 

Lehmann has refuted, by direct experiment, this theoretical allegation, 
and has shown (as my own experiments corroborate) that sugar, intro- 
duced either with an alkali or without one (for the result is the same in the 
two cases), into the circulation, fails to undergo the alleged oxidation, as 
is evidenced by its subsequent appearance in the urine. Moreover, as re- 
gards non-oxidation from a deficient amount of alkali in the blood being 
the cause of the escape of sugar occurring in diabetes, this also rests only 
upon hypothesis, for Lehmann has found that analytical examination 
gives no evidence of the deficiency referred to in the amount of alkali be- 
long-ino- to the blood in the disease. 

Whatever the series of changes undergone — whether oxidized after 
passing through the stage of fat or through any other line of metamor- 
phosis — supposing complete oxidation to occur, it may be considered 
that the amount of force evolved will always be the same. Looking, 
therefore, at these compounds as force-producers, we must take them 
in their original state, and upon the amount of unoxidized oxidizable 
elementary matter they contain will depend their value in force-pro- 
duction. 

In all of them, there being just the quantity of oxygen to represent 
the equivalent of the hydrogen in combination as water, their capacity 
for appropriating oxygen corresponds only with the carbon that is present. 
In fatty compounds, on the other hand, there exists a quantity of hydro- 
gen, as well as carbon, free for oxidation; and thus these latter are of a 
correspondingly higher value as force-producers. Nitrogenous matter 
also, even although disposed of as it is within the system, where a por- 
tion of its oxidizable elementary matter escapes unconsumed under the 
form of urea, possesses a higher capacity for appropriating oxygen. 

For further particulars concerning the application of the carbohydrates 
to force-production, the reader is referred to the discussion that has pre- 
6 



82 A TREATISE O^S" FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

ceded under the heads of nitrogenous and fatty matters (vide pp. 50, 61). 
It will suffice to reinsert here a tabular representation of the relative value 
they possess. 

Amount of oxygen re- Units of heat produced by oxi- 

quired to oxidize 100 dation of 1 gramme (15.482 

parts as oxidation oc- grs. ) as oxidation occurs with- 

curs within the body. in the body (Frankland). 

Grape-sugar, . . 106 3,277 

Starch, . . .120 3,912 

Albumen, . . 150 4,263 

Fat, . . . .293 9,069 

There are other ternary compounds consumed, which, if they do not 
hold the significant position as alimentary articles held by the principles 
already considered, are yet susceptible of oxidation within the system, 
and will thus contribute in some degree to force-generation, heat being 
probably the form of force to which they give rise. 

In some of these compounds, such as pectine and the vegetable acids, 
the oxygen is in excess of that required to form water with the hydrogen. 

^ec^me forms the basis of vegetable jellies. It is met with in most 
fruits and many vegetables, but does not exist to an extent sufficiently 
large to be of much importance in an alimentary point of view. Fremy's 
old formula for pectine was C^^H^^O^j; under the new notation it is now 
given as follows: C,,U,,0,,,AUp. 

Organic acids, such as citric acid (0^2-^50^^,3110) [HgCgH^GJ, tartaric 
«c^^(C,H,0,„,2H0) [H,C,H,OJ, maliS acid {Q,^fl,,mO) [H,C,H,OJ, 
and others of less extensive distribution, are met with in various vegetable 
juices. Lactic acid (CgHgOJ [HC^H^Og] and acetic acid (C^HgOg + HO) 
[HC^HgOJ, although carbohydrates, appear to behave like the above- 
enumerated acids within the system. 

Wohler asserts, with regard to these principles, that when they are 
ingested in a free state they pass through the system and appear un- 
changed in the urine; whereas it is well known that when they are intro- 
duced in combination with alkalies — that is, as alkaline salts — they 
undergo oxidation, the alkali escaping with the urine in combination with 
carbonic acid. Within thirteen minutes after taking half an ounce of 
lactate of soda, Lehmann found that his urine had acquired an alkaline 
reaction from the presence of alkaline carbonate. Lehmann also found, 
in experiments on dogs, that the injection of lactate of soda into the 
jugular vein was followed in five, or at the most twelve minutes, by an 
alkaline behavior of the urine, showing, unlike what occurs with sugar, 
that the direct introduction into the general circulatory system is attended 
with the same result as introduction into the alimentary canal. 

Alcohol (C^HgOJ [C^HgO], looked at chemicall}^, stands on the other 
side of the carbohydrates, and may be regarded as holding a position 
intermediate between the carbohydrates and the fats. From its compo- 
sition, which is given above, it is seen to be a less oxygenated body than 
the carbohydrates, and more highly so than the fats. 

There has been much discussion as regards the destination of alcohol 
in the animal economy. It was one of Liebig's propositions that it is con- 
sumed by oxidation like any other non-nitrogenous alimentary principle. 
*' Alcohol," he says, " stands only second to fat as a respiratory material." 
Liebig, however, adduced no physiological evidence in support of his as- 
sertion, but based it as a generalization on chemical considerations. 



ALIMENTARY PRIlSrCIPLES. 83 

That alcohol should occupy the position thus defined seemed so 
reasonable that Liebig's view originally met with general and unques- 
tioned acceptance. A reaction, however, was started by the announce- 
ment of MM. Lallemand, Perrin, and Duroy, that alcohol escapes from 
the body in an unchanged state after being ingested. It was found, in 
observations both upon man and the dog, that when a moderate quantity 
of alcohol had been administered, it was recognizable in the pulmonary 
and cutaneous exhalations, and also in the urine for some hours after- 
ward. Hence was supplied the ground for the denial that alcohol con- 
stituted a food; and in harmony therewith it was further found that it re- 
mained untransformed in the system, so as to be discoverable in the brain 
for a period, it is stated, of as many as thirty-six hours after its ingestion. 

Dr. Edward Smith repeated these experiments of Lallemand and the 
others, and obtained similar results. The test that was employed con- 
sisted of one part of bichromate of potash dissolved in three hundred 
parts of strong, pure sulphuric acid. Chromic acid being liberated by 
this admixture, a cherry-red colored liquid is produced. This, in contact 
with alcohol, becomes chanofed to an emerald screen from the reduction of 
the chromic acid to the oxide of chromium that ensues. Dr. Smith as- 
serts that he has frequently detected alcohol in the breath for four hours 
after 1^ ounce had been taken. Lallemand showed its presence in the 
exhalation from the skin by confining a dog in a closed case, through 
which a current of air was made to pass and subsequently traverse the 
test. Dr. Smith enclosed a man's arm in an impermeable bag, and simi- 
larly, with a current of air passed through, readily obtained an indication 
of the escape of alcohol. 

If the alcohol ingested escape from the body in an unaltered state, it 
cannot, of course, be looked upon as possessing any alimentary value. 
Dr. E. Smith sides with the French observers, whose experiments he has 
confirmed in takino; this view. He considers that it does not increase 
the production of heat in the body as a chemical agent, but by the power 
it possesses of stimulating the activity of the vital functions. In his ex- 
periments on respiration he found that in every dose up to the usual one 
in taking spirits and water it increased, but only, he says, to a moderate 
degree, the amount of carbonic acid evolved, and this he ascribes to a 
similar cause. 

Looking at the very large quantity of alcohol under the form of vari- 
ous beverao-es that is consumed amonofst us. and consumed under the 
idea that it is an article capable of being turned to useful account in the 
system, the question before us becomes one of extensive interest and im- 
portance. Now, suppose it be conceded that evidence has been adduced 
sufficiently decisive to show that alcohol, after being ingested, escapes 
from the body through various channels; this would form all that it can 
be contended has been discovered. Neither of the persons whose observa- 
tions have been referred to has collected the alcohol or done anything 
toward showing that what escapes is equivalent to that which enters. 

Dr. Anstie * directs attention to the experiment of M. Baudot, and 
gives the results of a repetition, with modifications of his own, which throw 
doubt upon the soundness of the opinion of M. Lallemand and others. 
It is asserted that the chromic acid test is one of extreme delicacy, being 
affected by the presence of the minutest quantity of alcohol, and that it 
is only when an excessive quantity of alcohol has been administered that 

* On Stimulants and Narcotics. Macmillan, 1864. 



84 ^ A TREATISE ON EOOD AND DIETETICS. 

its escape is to be recognized by any other means. It is also contended 
that, through the delicacy of this test, the quantity escaping may easily 
be overrated — that although a reaction is distinctly obtainable with the 
test, in reality only a fraction of that which enters is eliminated, and, if 
such be the case, there is nothing to prevent us from regarding alcohol 
as having an alimentary value. 

Considering the diffusible property which alcohol possesses, it is not 
inconsistent that a small portion should escape and yet that the article 
should form a utilizable agent in the body. It certainly may be reason- 
ably considered that evidence of a stronger nature than that which has 
been adduced should be brought forward before it would be right to look 
upon alcohol as devoid of alimentary value. 

Dr. Parkes, in conjunction with Count Wollowicz, has recently * prose- 
cuted an inquiry into the action of alcohol on the human body, and the 
question of elimination is touched upon as one of the points of considera- 
tion. Although they confirm previous observers in recognizing it, after 
its administration, by means of the chromic acid test, in the urine and 
the exhalations from the lungs and skin, and further find it to a slight 
extent in the alvine dejections, yet their observations were only of a 
qualitative nature, and did not enable them, they say, to solve the diffi- 
cult problem as to whether all the alcohol passes off or whether some is 
retained and destroyed. 

In a later communication on the action of claret wine f they state 
that they obtained a marked reaction with the chromic acid test from 
the condensed perspiration of the arm, when no alcoholic fluid had been 
taken for twenty-six days previously. They are, therefore, led to sug- 
gest that the perspiration may at times contain some non-alcoholic sub- 
stance capable of exerting the same reducing action, and conclude that 
fresh experiments are necessary to determine the reliance to be placed on 
the test when applied to the condensed perspiration. 

Communications have since been published in the " Proceedings of 
the Royal Society," | giving the results of Dr. Dupre's experiments. Dr. 
Dopre agrees with Anstie and Thudichum in this country, and Schulinus 
and Baudot abroad, in believing that the chief portion of the alcohol in- 
gested undergoes consumption in the body. 

Dr. Dupre starts with the proposition that " obviously three results 
may follow the ingestion of alcohol. All the alcohol may be oxidized 
and none be eliminated, or a portion only may be oxidized and the rest 
be eliminated unaltered ; or, lastly, all may be eliminated again unaltered. 
Assuming the last to be the case, it would follow that if a certain quantity 
of alcohol were taken daily, the amount eliminated would increase from 
day to day, until at last the amount eliminated would equal the daily 
consumption, be this in five, ten, or more days. If, on the other hand, 
all the alcohol consumed is either oxidized or eliminated within twenty- 
four hours, no increase in the daily elimination would take place, in con- 
sequence of the continuance of the alcohol diet." 

"Assuming, for the sake of argument, that all the alcohol is elimina- 
ted, and that such elimination takes ten days, it would follow," aptly ob- 
serves Dr. Dupre, " that if a certain quantity of alcohol were taken daily, 

* Proceedings of tlie Royal Society, No. 120. May, 1870. 
f Ibid., No. 123. June, 1870. 

X On the Elimination of Alcohol, by Dr. A. Dupre, Proc. Roy, Society, No. 131, p. 
107, 1872, and No. 133, p. 2G8, 1872. 



ALIMENTAEY PRINCIPLES. 85 

the amount eliminated would increase from day to day until, from the 
tenth day onward, the quantity eliminated daily would equal the daily 
consumption; in other words, the quantities which would be eliminated, 
if this theory were correct, might be measured by ounces instead of by 
grains, and even the most ordinary processes of analysis could not fail to 
yield considerable quantities of alcohol." 

Now, from the results obtained in two series of experiments conducted 
upon himself. Dr. Dupre sums up as follows: 

" The amount of alcohol eliminated per day does not increase with the 
continuance of the alcohol diet; therefore, all the alcohol consumed daily 
must of necessity be disposed of daily, and as it certainly is not eliminated 
within that time, it must be destroyed in the system." 

" The elimination of alcohol following the ingestion of a dose, or doses, 
of alcohol, ceases in from nine to twenty-four hours after the last dose has 
been taken." 

" The amount of alcohol eliminated, in both breath and urine, is a 
minute fraction only of the amount of alcohol taken." 

In ao;reement with what had been noticed bv Dr. Parkes and Count 
Wollowicz, Dr. Dupre found in the course of his experiments, that after 
six weeks of total abstinence from alcohol, and even in the case of a tee- 
totaller, a substance was eliminated in the urine, and perhaps also, it 
is stated, in the breath, which, though apparently not alcohol, gave all 
the reactions ordinarily used for the detection of traces of alcohol. " It 
passes over," Dr. Dupre says, "with the first portions of the distillate; it 
yields acetic acid on oxidation, gives the emerald-green reaction with the 
bichromate of potassium and strong sulphuric acid, yields iodoform, and 
its aqueous solution has a lower specific gravity and a higher vapor ten- 
sion than pure water." Dr. Dupre further remarks that " the presence 
of a substance in human urine and the urine of various animals, which 
jdelds iodoform, but is not alcohol, had already been discovered by M. 
Lieben. The quantity present in urine is, however, so small that the 
precise nature of this substance has not as yet been determined." 

Shortly after the publication of the first edition of this work, an arti- 
cle from the pen of Dr. Anstie appeared in the Practitioner,^ entitled 
" Final [and the word final has received a melancholy expressiveness by 
Dr. Anstie's untimely death] Experiments on the Elimination of Alcohol 
from the Body." In harmony with what has preceded, evidence is there 
adduced which shows that only a fractional proportion of the alcohol in- 
gested is eliminated through the various channels of exit from the body. 
An experiment is related in which, after the administration of Bordeaux 
wine to six persons in sufficient quantity to produce intoxication, not 
more than one per cent, of the alcohol ingested could be recovered by dis- 
tillation from the collected samples of urine. In another experiment, af- 
ter the administration of brandy to the extent of one ounce daily for ten 
days to a dog, the animal was killed, and the alcohol obtained from its 
whole body determined. The quantity recoverable amounted only to 
about one-fourth of that contained in the dose which had been adminis- 
tered two hours previous to death. " These experiments," it is remarked 
by Dr. Anstie, " certainly furnish us with a final and conclusive demon- 
stration of the correctness of Dr. Dupre's arguments against the possi- 
bility of material accumulation of alcohol in the body." 

From a review of the evidence as it at present stands, it may reason- 

* Practitioner, p. 15. July, 1874. 



86 A TREATISE 01^ FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

ably be inferred that there is sufficient before us to justify the conclusion 
that the main portion of the alcohol ingested becomes destroyed within 
the system, and, if this be the case, it may be fairly assumed that the de- 
struction is attended with oxidation and a corresponding liberation of 
force, unless, indeed, it should undergo metamorphosis into a principle to 
be temporarily retained, but nev^ertheless ultimately applied to force-pro- 
duction. The subject appears to me to be open to physiological as well 
as chemical investigation, and probably some additional light may be 
hereafter thrown upon it by an approach through the former channel. 



THE INORGANIC ALIMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 

Although it is to the play of changes taking place in organic matter 
that the manifestations of life are to be traced, yet organic matter alone, 
it has been found experimentally, will not suffice for supplying all that is 
wanting for the occurrence of living action. Inorganic matter, under the 
form of water and certain saline .principles, constitutes an indispensable 
part of a living being, and hence must enter into the composition of food. 

Water, besides fulfilling many other subsidiary offices, is essential for 
the occurrence of molecular change or mobility' — the essence of the mani- 
festations of life. In the absence of water a state of molecular rest, which 
means an absence of vital activity, prevails. Water does not in itself un- 
dergo any chemical alteration, and hence is not susceptible of liberating 
force — does not, in other words, constitute a force-producing agent; but 
it contributes to chemical change by supplying a necessary condition for 
its occurrence in other bodies. 

Saline matter stands, if not to the full extent, nearly so, in the same 
position as water, as regards the non-possession in itself of force-produ- 
cing properties. Some of the saline matter of food, it is true, may be sus- 
ceptible of oxidation, and thereby give rise to the liberation of force, but 
this, it may be considered, is not the particular office which saline matter 
is designed to fulfil. It forms a necessary part of the organism, without, 
however, constituting the source of the manifestation of power. It exists 
intimately incorporated with the organic principles comprising the differ- 
ent component parts of the fabric, and enters as an essential element into 
the constitution of the secretions. It may be looked upon in the light of 
an integrant portion of the structure of the machine, other agents being 
concerned in supplying the moving power. 

Mineral matter is thus required to be furnished for the growth and 
nutrition of the constituent parts of the organism, and also for the forma- 
tion of the secretions. It is required by the plant as well as by the 
animal, and hence we find in all natural organic products a certain ad- 
mixture of mineral matter. It hereby follows that whether the food be 
derived from the animal or vegetable kingdom, there exists, entering into 
its constitution, a definite proportion of mineral matter; and, just such 
as is required by the animal being has been drawn from the inorganic 
kingdom by the plant, whereby, without going further than the organic 
substance itself, the animal meets with the mineral matter that is needed. 

Of the various saline principles necessary, the chief consist of combi- 
nations of lime, magnesia, potash, soda, and iron, with chlorine, phos- 
phoric acid, carbonic acid, and, in smaller quantity, sulphuric acid. Each 
has its share of importance, but lime and phosphoric acid may be looked 
upon as occupying the highest position in this respect. From no struc- 



ALIMENTAEY PEINCIPLES. 87 

tural element of the body is phosphate of lime, it would appear, absent, 
and its incorporation with the nitrogenous constituent principles is so in- 
timate that much difficulty is experienced in ejecting a complete separa- 
tion without involving the destruction of the compound. Caseine is a 
nitrogenous principle which is conspicuous for the tenacity with which it 
holds a large quantity of phosphate of lime incorporated with it. From 
what is observed, indeed, in the relations of the organic and mineral 
principles to each other, it seems that in many instances an actual chemi- 
cal union of the two exist. 

On account of what has been mentioned, the chemist, in conducting 
an analysis for the determination of the mineral matter that is present in 
an organic product, subjects it to a preliminary process of incineration. 
After being thus treated, however, no knowledge is to be derived of the 
precise state or mode of arrangement under which the mineral matter 
originally existed. Even the mineral combinations found may not iden- 
tically correspond with those present in the product, for in the process of 
incineration effects are produced which leads to new compounds being 
formed. There is the reducing influence of carbon, for instance, in oper- 
ation upon the sulphate. There is also a production of carbonic acid 
from the oxidation of carbonaceous matter; and the saline principles, 
under the elevated temperature to which they are exposed, are likely to 
react to some extent upon each other. 

That the various kinds of saline matter must fulfil a specific office in 
the economy of life may be looked upon as shown, if proof of it, indeed, 
were wanted, by the special manner in which it is distributed. Although 
so closely allied in their chemical properties, potash and soda cannot be 
made to replace each other in the living system, and the same is likewise 
noticeable in the case of lime and magnesia. In the process of vegetable 
alimentation a qualitative and quantitative selection is made by the organ- 
ism from the soil around. Whilst in some plants one kind of mineral 
matter may preponderate, in others it may be another kind, and to such 
an extent may this preponderance reach as to have led to plants being 
characterized as potash plants, lime plants, siliceous plants, and so on. In 
the animal organism a like inequality of distribution is also observable. 
Thus, in the blood — and here the circumstances are of the most favorable 
nature for an equal distribution of saline matter, if a special appropria- 
ting action were not in operation — it is found that phosphates and potash 
salts predominate in the corpuscles, and chlorides and soda salts in the 
plasma around. Again, as regards the distribution of potash and soda, 
generally, it is noticeable that the former is the alkali belonging particu- 
larly to the formed tissues, the latter to the infiltrating fluids. 

It is no mere indiscriminate diffusion of saline matter, therefore, that 
has to be dealt wnth. Saline matter, on the contrary, is evidently con- 
cerned as one of the factors of the formative operations carried on, and 
no food can satisfy the requirements of life that does not contain an ap- 
propriate amount of certain saline principles. 

In the egg, and also in milk, we have articles provided by nature for 
the special purpose of being employed in the construction and subsequent 
maintenance of the animal organism. Milk is complete in itself. In it 
exists, besides the organic principles, all the inorganic matter, including, 
both saline and water, that is needed. The egg, taken as a whole, stands- 
in a similar position, but it is not so with regard to the contents exclu- 
sive of the shell. It is well known that from the egg all the constituent 
parts of the young animal are formed — its skeleton as well. as> Its. various 



88 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

soft textures. Now, for the construction of the skeleton an amount of 
earthy matter is required which does not exist preformed in the soft con- 
tents of the egg, but has to be drawn from the shell. During the process 
of incubation, with the co-operation of the atmospheric air which perme- 
ates the shell, it appears that the phosphorus present in the yolk gradu- 
ally undergoes oxidation and becomes converted into phosphoric acid. 
This acts upon and dissolves the carbonate of lime belonging to the shell, 
which thus, as incubation proceeds, becomes thinner and thinner. As 
Liebig therefore remarks, if it be compared with milk, both the contents 
and the shell must be reckoned to bring them into an analogous position. 

It has lately been urged by Liebig * that saline matter has failed to 
receive its due consideration as a nutritive element of food. It is per- 
fectly true, as he has pointed out, that in the preparation of food for 
human consumption the natural article is often considerably depreciated 
in nutritive value by the abstraction that may happen to have occurred. 
Meat soaked or boiled in water loses more or less of its soluble portion, 
and, included in this, are its nutritive salts. Roasted meat, on this ac- 
count, is of higher value than boiled. In the process of salting a portion 
(about 15 per cent., Liebig says) of the nutritive juice escapes into the 
brine. In the boiling of vegetable nutritive principles, and particularly 
the nutritive salts, are removed by the water. The separation that is 
effected in the dressing of flour leaves this product in an inferior posi- 
tion to the grain from which it is derived. Both the saline and nitro- 
genous matters belonging to wheat are chiefly encountered in the outer 
or tegumentary part of the grain, and are, therefore, more or less ex- 
cluded from white bread. It is a scientific fact, Liebig remarks, which 
Magendie has proved by experiment, that a dog dies if fed on white 
bread, while its health does nor suffer at all if its food consist of brown 
bread, or bread made of unbolted flour. Liebig also asserts his belief 
that many millions more men could be daily fed in Germany if it were 
only possible to persuade the population of the advantage which bread 
made of unbolted flour has over that ordinarily eaten. 

This doctrine, however, is hardly to be accepted in the precise terms 
that Liebig has proposed it. It must certainly be conceded that if our 
food consisted only of eggs, we should require, in order to satisfy the re- 
quirements of nutrition, to place ourselves in the same position as the de- 
veloping chick, and consume the shell as well as its contents. Again, if 
corn formed our staple food, as it may happen to do in the case of the 
horse, etc., we should be obliged to consume the whole of the grain to ob- 
tain all the nutritive principles we require. It is a mixture of animal 
and vegetable food, however, which forms our natural diet, and the diet 
which is actually employed by the great majority of mankind. Now, if 
we are supplied with the nutritive salts through meat or the other arti- 
cles consumed, we can spare them without detriment from our bread. 
Nor need there be waste involved in this proceeding. If our taste leads 
us to prefer bread made from white flour, and thereby to reject the outer 
part of the grain, it does not follow that in so doing we are committing 
an act of dietetic prodigality, for what we do not use ourselves may be, 
and in reality is, turned to account in feeding animals that are either 
kept to serve some useful purpose, or reared for consumption as food; 
and, in the latter case, the nutritive salts which we originally rejected in 
separating the bran from flour may actually reach us after all amongst 
the constituents of animal food. 

* On the Nutritive Value of Different Sorts of Food, Lancet, vol. i. 1869. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



Alimentary substances comprise products of the animal and vegeta- 
ble kingdoms in which the various alimentary principles are combined. 

It is to the consideration of these products that attention will now be 
directed; and first to be described will be those derived from the animal 



kingdom. 



ANIMAL ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



Animal food being identical in composition with the structures of the 
body, requires neither addition nor subtraction to enable it to administer 
to the purposes of nutrition. 

The chief characteristic of animal food is the large amount of nitro- 
genous matter it contains. This, it is true, adapts it for the construction 
and maintenance of the body, but food is also required for force-produc- 
tion, and provided a certain amount of nitrogenous matter be supplied, 
the force-production is better derived from one or other of the forms 
of non-nitrogenous matter. Such may be effected by the presence of 
a certain quantity of fat with the nitrogenous matter, and with a proper 
combination the adjustment may be made from animal food alone, so as just 
to meet the requirements without incurring waste on either side. Hence 
the advantage of the common practice, which is doubtless due to some- 
thing more than accident, of eating some kinds of food rich in fatty 
matter, as bacon or pork, with food such as chicken, rabbit, etc., which 
consists almost entirely of nitrogenous matter. 

Animal food is comprised of: 1, the various parts of animals; 2, eggs; 
and 3, milk, with its derivatives — cream, butter, and cheese. 

Honey is also enumerated by Payen amongst the articles belonging 
to animal food, but this substance is in reality a vegetable product, hav- 
ing only been collected and stored up by the animal to whose industry 
we owe it. 

The food falling under the first head is popularly classified into meat, 
poultry, game, wild-fowl, fish, and shell-fish. 

Like popular classifications in general, this will not bear close inspec- 
tion; still, for the description about to be undertaken, it forms, upon the 
whole, the most convenient arrangement to follow. 

Meat. — The meats we ordinarily consume are all derived from vege- 
table feeders.* They consist of beef, mutton, veal, lamb, pork, bacon, 
and venison. 

* The pig is, strictly speaking, an omnivorous animal, but reared for the purpose of 
food, it ought to be a vegetable feeder ; offal, however, is often given to it witb. 
other food. 



90 A TREATISE ON" FOOD AIS^D DIETETICS. 

Rabbit and hare may be conveniently considered with game. Turtle 
is employed for the preparation of soup. The flesh of a very large num- 
ber of other animals than those yielding the meats above named is like- 
wise eaten in various parts of the globe. A sej^arate section will be here- 
after devoted to this subject. 

The flesh, bones, internal or visceral organs, and even, as from the 
pig, the blood of the slaughtered animal, are all turned to account as 
food. They each require consideration. First, however, remarks will be 
made on the influence of age, sex, size, season, mode of life, nature of 
feeding, and mode of death, upon the flesh of animals. 

The flesh of young animals is more tender than that of old, but ex- 
perience shows that it is more resistant to the digestive powers. Veal 
and lamb, for instance, are found by the dyspeptic to tax the stomach 
more than beef and mutton. The flesh of an aged animal, as is well 
known, may be so tough as to be almost uneatable. The tissues of young 
animals are more gelatinous, less stimulating, and of less nutritive value 
than those of the adult and aged, which, instead, contain a larger amount of 
fibrine and of the flavoring principle, osmazome. The flesh of very young 
animals, indeed, contains so little fibrine and osmazome as to be almost 
unpleasantly soft, flabby, and insipid. 

According to the information given me by an intelligent and experi- 
enced grazier, and evidently a connoisseur of meat, ox beef is in highest 
perfection at four years old. An ox that has been employed for working- 
does not afford such good meat, and in grazing does not put on fat so 
evenly, or become so shapely, as one that has not been worked. Wether 
mutton is best at three years old; and in the case of hioth beef and mutton 
the meat of the female is in its prime rather earlier than that of the male. 
Ewe mutton undergoes deterioration by the occurrence of lambing. 

Sex greatly influences the quality of the flesh, that of the female 
being more delicate and finely grained (the hen pheasant is very notice- 
ably more tender and delicate eating than the male bird) than that of the 
entire male, which, during the time that the genital organs are in a state 
of functional activity, may be so coarse and rank as to render it almost 
uneatable. The buck, bull, and ram form examples. Castration deprives 
the meat of this strong flavor, and improves it altogether for edible pur- 
poses. Spaying also improves the edible qualities of the female animal. 
These operations, therefore, particularly that of castration, are commonly 
performed where the animals are destined to serve only as food. They 
are even practised in the case of the bird. The capon and poulard are 
examples; and it is well known that in this mutilated state the animal be- 
comes larger, fatter, and more tender than where the sexual organs re- 
main intact. 

The flesh of an animal is generally coarse in proportion to its size. 
The difference in this respect in the flesh of the larger and smaller quad- 
rupeds is sufficiently striking. The remark is applicable not only to dif- 
ferent kinds of animals, but to different varieties of the same species. 

I71 season and out of seasofi are common expressions as applied to 
animals. Their meaning is well known, and they signify that there is a 
season when an animal is in a better state for consumption as food than 
at another. Beef and mutton are never actually out of season, but are 
most in season during autumn and the early part of winter, that is, just 
after the animal has been afforded the advantage of an abundant supply 
of fresh summer food. The precise period of highest perfection in flavor 
is just before removal from the green pasturage, viz., during the months of 



ALIMEI^TARY SUBSTANCES. 91 

September and October. There is a saying that the time for beef in its 
choicest state is whilst French beans are in. By stall-feeding on dry and 
artifical food, although the animal gains in fat, the meat loses in choiceness 
of flavor. Pork is absolutely out of season during the summer months. 
Buck venison is in highest season from the middle of June to the begin- 
ning of September, when the rutting period commences. Doe venison is 
in season during the winter. The season for young meats, as veal and 
lamb, is when a sufficient time has elapsed after the breeding period for 
the animal to have arrived at a state suitable for consumption as food. 
The breeding period varies somewhat in different breeds, and thus a sup- 
ply of young meat may be secured for some length of time. By ex- 
posure to certain conditions, also, the period of heat in a female may be 
considerably advanced. In this way it is that lamb is procurable as an 
article of luxury for the table of the wealthy as early as December or 
even November. With sheep kept on a cold or poor hill pasture the 
lambing season is retarded. 

The mode of life exerts its influence on the flesh of animals. In the 
wild state there is very much less fat present than in a well-fed domes- 
ticated state. In the former case the meat also is higher in color and richer 
in flavor and extractives. 

Some kinds of food influence in a marked manner the character of 
the meat. Feeding oxen upon oil-cake communicates a yellow color to 
the fat. Oily foods also have a tendency to make soft fat. Turnips 
give a flavor to mutton which is distinctly recognizable by the epicure. 
The fragrant herbs belonging to different pastures produce their influ- 
ence upon the taste of the meat. The peculiar flavor of mountain sheep 
is easily appreciable by all. 

The art of feeding animals is directed to increasing the amount of 
fat: thev are fattened, in other words, for the table. If this fattenino^ 
process be carried only to a certrin point, the alimentary value of the 
meat is increased, but when carried to an extreme, as we see it in some 
of the animals exhibited at the Christmas Cattle Shows, the fat, as far as 
our requirements are concerned, is out of proportion to the nitrogenous 
matter, and thus an actual waste is incurred. 

Violent exercise just previous to death gives increased tenderness to 
the flesh, hence the greater tenderness which is well known to belong to 
the flesh of the hunted animal. 

In the process of slaughtering, the animal is drained as far as practi- 
cable of its blood. Either life is destroyed by the removal of blood, or 
the blood is allowed to escape immediately after resort to some other 
means of occasioning death. The loss of blood certainly involves a loss 
or waste of nutritive material. It would be thereby to be condemned if 
it did not possess counterbalancing advantages. Besides rendering the 
meat more pleasant to the eye, it enables it to keep longer, and improves 
the delicacy of its flavor. The Mosaic law is very strict regarding the 
killing of animals for food, and the regulations are such as to secure to 
the fullest extent the removal of the blood. Jews, as a point of religion, 
will not eat the flesh of any animal that has not been killed by a slaugh- 
terer of their own persuasion. They consider their meat superior to our 
own; and it is even eaten in preference by some Christians. 

It is usual to keep an animal for a short time without food before be- 
ing killed, and it is believed that the meat thereby keeps better. It is 
obvious, however, that the fasting must not be prolonged sufficiently to 
produce an unhealthy state. 



92 A TPwEATISE ON FOOD AKD ^DIETETICS. 

To give additional whiteness to veal, which is looked upon as a de- 
sirable quality for it to possess, it was formerly a common custom to 
bleed the animal pretty freely a day or two before being killed. This 
practice appears now, however, to be almost if not entirely abandoned. 
Whatever may formerly have been the case, it does not appear that calves 
slaughtered for the London market are now ever treated in this way. 

It is well known that meat is greatly improved in tenderness by being 
allowed to hang for some time after the animal is killed. Whilst the 
fibres are set by rigor mortis, it is much harder than before or afterward; 
and unless cooked before this state has supervened, which can but seldom 
be convenient, it should be allowed to remain until it has passed off, if 
not longer. 

With these general remarks I will now speak in detail of the various 
kinds of meat and the other alimentary products derived from animals. 
The analyses given on the forthcoming pages, unless otherwise stated, 
are taken from a table contained in Dr. Letheby's work on Food.* It 
must be understood, however, that no fixed composition exists, and that 
the analyses furnished by other authorities may show figures that some- 
what differ. The relative amount of fat and nitrogenous matter, for in- 
stance, varies considerably in samples of meat obtained from different 
animals. 

The foUoM^ng is Ranke's analysis of cooked meat, the composition of 
which necessarily differs from that of fresh meat on account of the loss 
which occurs in cooking. For particulars regarding the loss under dif- 
ferent modes of cooking, vide the section on the culinary preparation of 
food. 



Composition of Cooked Meat (Roast) ^ no Dripping being Lost — 
Boiled assmned to he the same (Ranke). 

Nitrogenous matter, ...... 27.6 

Fat, 15.45 

Saline matter, . . . . . , . .2.95 
Water, ... . . . . . . 54.00 

100.00 

Beefi^ of a firmer texture and more satisfying to the stomach than 
mutton. Rightly or wrongly, it is generally reputed as possessing also 
higher strengthening properties. 



Composition of Lean JBeef. 

Nitrogenous matter, . . . . . . . 19.3 

Fat, 3.6 

Saline matter, ........ 5.1 

Water, . . . . . ... . . 72.0 

100.0 



* On Food, p. G. Longmans, 1870. 



ALIMENTAKY SUBSTANCES. 93 



Composition of Fat Seef. 

Nitrogenous matter, ....... 14.8 

Fat, . . 29.8 

Saline matter, . . . . . . . . 4.4 

Water. ......... 51.0 



100.0 



Mutton appears to be a meat more easy of digestion than beef. This 
is not appreciable by a healthy person, because the digestive power is in 
excess of what is required for the easy digestion of either when a proper 
amount only is consumed. In the dyspeptic, however, where a nice balance 
may exist between the digestive power possessed and that required — 
where, in other words, the digestive power is only just sufficient for what 
is wanted, the usual experience is that mutton taxes the stomach less 
than beef. There are many, for instance, who find that whilst mutton can 
be eaten without exciting discomfort, beef rests somewhat heavily upon 
the stomach if it do not even actually disagree. 

Idiosyncrasies, however, exist for meat as well as for other kinds of 
food. Dr. Prout* records an instance of a person known to him on 
whom mutton acted as a poison. " He could not," says Prout, " eat mut- 
ton in any form. The peculiarity was supposed to be owing to caprice, 
and the mutton was repeatedly disguised and given unknown to the in- 
dividual; but uniformly with the same result of producing violent vomit- 
ing or diarrhoea, and from the severity of the attacks, which were, in fact, 
those of a virulent poison, there can be little doubt that if the use of 
mutton had been persisted in, it would soon have destroyed the life of 
the individual." 

Composition of Lean Mutton. 

Nitrogenous matter, . . . . . . , 18.3 

Fat, . . . 4.9 

Saline matter, . . . . . . . .4.8 

Water, 72.0 



100.0 



Composition of Fat 3futton. 

Nitrogenous matter, ....... 12.4 

Fat, 31.1 

Saline matter, ........ 3.5 

Water 53.0 



100.0 



Veal and lamh. — It has been already stated that these meats, although 
more tender, are more resistant to digestive action. They appear also to 
possess less strength-giving properties. It need scarcely be said that 
there is a deeply rooted belief that for sustaining the powers under great 



On tlie Nature and Treatment of Stomach and Urinary Diseases, 8d. ed. , p. 30. 



94 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

exertion these meats are not to be compared to beef and mutton. They 
are meats that it is desirable to avoid, generally speaking, in case of 
dyspepsia. 

Composition of Veal. 

Nitrogenous matter, . . . . . . . 16.5 

Fat, 15.8 

Saline matter, . . . ... . . .4.7 

Water, . .63.0 



100.0 



Pork is of all meats the most difficult to digest. It is rich and trying 
to the stomach on account of the large quantity of fat it contains. The 
flesh of the wild hog is easier of digestion and not so fat as that of the 
domestic animal (Forsyth*). All fat meats contain a relatively smaller 
proportion of water than lean, on account of fat not being infiltrated with 
fluid to the same extent as the other tissues. 



Composition of Fat Pork. 

Nitrogenous matter, ....... 9.8 

Fat, . . . . . ... . . 48.9 

Saline matter, . . . . . . . . 2.3 

Water, . 39.0 



100.0 



Paeon. — Cured meats generally are less digestible than the same meat 
in the fresh state. Bacon, however, occupies an exceptional position in 
this respect. Its fat, certainly, is less likely to disagree with the 
stomach than the fat of pork. It contains but a small proportion of 
water, and, therefore, weight for weight, is an advantageous kind of 
food. It should not lose more than 10 to 15 per cent, in cooking (Lethe- 
by). Among the laboring classes it forms an almost universal article of 
diet. Its popular use, like that also of boiled pork with lean meats, such 
as veal, chicken, and rabbit, and also with other articles rich in nitro- 
genous matter, as eggs, beans, and peas, is founded upon a rational 
principle, serving, as it does, to establish a proper proportion in the sup- 
ply of nitrogenous and carbonaceous material. 



Composition of Pried Paeon. 

Nitro2:enous matter, ....*.. 8.8 

Fat, \ 73.3 

Saline matter, , . . . . . . . 2.9 

Water, . 15.0 



100.0 



i 



* Dictionary of Diet. London, 1835. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



95 



Composition of Green Bacon. 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Fat, . 

Saline matter, 
Water, 



7.1 

66.8 

2.1 

24.0 



100.0 



Venison (the flesh of the deer only is here understood to be referred 
to) partakes more of the character of game than of butchers' meat. It is 
lean, dark colored, and savory. It constitutes one of the most digestible 
of meats, and would be, therefore, well suited for the dyspeptic and con- 
valescent were it not for its rich and savory character. 

JBone. — The relative amount of bone in animals varies according to 
their condition. Taking the whole animal, 20 per cent, may be allowed 
(Parkes). In lean animals it is in too large a relative proportion viewed 
in reference to economy. In the various joints " it is rarely less than 8 per 
cent. In the neck and brisket of beef it is about 10 per cent., and in shins 
and legs of beef it amounts to one-third, or even to half the total weight. 
The most economical parts are the round and thick flank, then the 
brisket and sticking-piece, and, lastly, the leg. In the case of mutton 
and pork, the leg is the most profitable, and then the shoulder " (Letheby). 

Bones contain a considerable amount of nutritive matter, both nitro- 
genous and fatty. To extract it the bones should be broken up into 
small fragments and boiled for many hours. Dr. E. Smith says,* "When 
reporting to the Privy Council upon the dietar}'" of the Lancashire opera- 
tives, I had special analyses made of the nutritive material which was ex- 
tracted from bones, and the result showed that bones were equal in nutri- 
ment to about one-third of their weight of flesh in carbon, and one-seventh 
in nitrogen; and at the relative prices of bones and flesh, the use of the 
former rendered the dietary more economical." According to this state- 
ment, therefore, three pounds of bones represent the equivalent of one 
pound of meat in carbon; and seven pounds, one pound of meat in nitro- 
gen. Gelatine, which forms the basis of soup, is the nitrogenous princi- 
ple extracted by boiling from bones. 

lilood. — The only animal from which the blood is saved and employed 
for dietetic purposes is, as a rule, the pig, but sometimes bullock's blood 
is also made use of. It is mixed with groats, fat, and spice, and sold 
under the name of " black pudding." 

Liver. — The liver of the calf, lamb, and pig is largely consumed as 
human food. It is generally fried, and, thus prepared, forms a rich and 
savory dish. Its richness renders it an inappropriate food for a delicate 
stomach. 



Composition of Calves'* Liver (Payen). 

Nitrogenous matter, . 

Fat, 

Carbohydrate (amyloid matter), 
Saline matter, .... 
Water, 



20.10 
5.58 
0.45 
1.54 

72.33 



100.00 



* Report on Dietaries of Lunatics and Workhouses, p. 46. 



96 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AKD DIETETICS. 



The foie gras which is produced for the rich as an article of luxury is 
obtained by subjecting the goose to the process of feeding described at 
The liver thereby becomes enormously enlarged and loaded with 
Its highly fatty nature is shown by the following analysis: 



p. 77, 
fat. 



Composition of Foie Gras (Pay en). 

Nitrogenous matter,. 

Fat, 

Carbohydrate (amyloid matter), 
Saline matter, .... 
Water, ..... 



13.75 

54.57 

6.40 

2.58 

22.70 

100.00 



I 



Kidney. — The substance of the kidney is of a close, fleshy nature. It 
can never be looked upon as otherwise than an article of difficult digesti- 
bility, but as regards this quality a great deal depends upon the process 
of cooking. When lightly cooked it is soft, juicy, and agreeably sapid, 
but cooked for some time, and with the employment of a high tempera- 
ture, it undergoes considerable contraction, and becomes hard, dry, com- 
paratively tasteless, and exceedingly indigestible. The amount of fatty 
matter present is small. 



Composition of Sheep* s Kidneys (Payen). 




Nitrogenous matter, ...... 


17.250 


Fatty matter, ....... 


2.125 


Saline matter, ...... 


1.100 


Non-azotized organic matter and loss, . 


. 1.325 


Water, ........ 


78.200 



100.00 

. Heart. — The heart consists of fat and muscular tissue, like ordinary 
meat. The muscular tissue, however, is of a much closer texture, and 
this gives the greater hardness which is well known to belong to it both 
in the cooked and uncooked states. On account of this closeness of 
texture and hardness, it forms an indigestible article of food. 

Tripe. — The tripe which is consumed as human food consists of the 
paunch or first portion of the ruminant stomach of the ox. This is the 
only instance of any part of the alimentary canal being applied to our 
own use, excepting in the case of the pig, where the chitterlings are 
cleansed and eaten. The muscular fibres belonging to tripe possess a 
different structure from those belonging to ordinary meat, and yield more 
readily to digestion. Tripe, indeed, is an easily digestible article of food, 
but the fat present renders it somewhat rich. 



Composition of Tripe, 

Nitrogenous matter, .... 

Fat, 

Saline matter, . . . . . 
Water, 



13.2 

16.4 

2.4 

68.0 



100.0 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 9? 

Sweetbread embraces more than one organ. Stomach sweetbread and 
throat sweetbread are spoken of. The former constitutes the pancreas, 
the latter the thymus. Sweetbread is easy of digestion, and, when plainly 
cooked, forms a suitable food for the con\^alescent. When richly dressed, 
as it is usually served up at company dinners, it is neither suited for the 
dyspeptic nor invalid. 

Lungs. — Pig's lights are eaten as a fry with the animal's liver. A 
food is prepared called " fagots," from bullock's and sheep's lights mixed 
with bullock's liver. 

Spleen. — The ipilt of the bullock, sheep, and pig is sold for human 
food. It is usually stuffed and roasted. 

Uir\yHOLESOME Meat. — Meat cannot be subjected, like many alimen- 
tary articles, to adulteration or falsification, but it may be in an unwhole- 
some state, and thereby unfit for food. 

Good meat, according to Dr. Letheby,* has the following characters: 

"First. — It is neither of a pale pink color nor of a deep purple tint, 
for the former is a sign of disease, and the latter indicates that the ani- 
mal has not been slaughtered, but has died with the blood in it, or has 
suffered from acute fever. 

" Second. — It has a marbled appearance, from the ramifications of lit- 
tle veins of fat among the muscles. 

" Third. — It should be firm and elastic to the touch, and should 
scarcely moisten the fingers, bad meat being wet, and sodden, and flabby, 
with the fat looking like jelly or wet parchment. 

"Fourth. — It should have little or no odor, and the odor should 
not be disagreeable, for diseased meat has a sickly, cadaverous smell, and 
sometimes a smell of physic. This is very discoverable when the meat is 
chopped up and drenched with warm water. 

"Fifth. — It should not shrink or waste much in cooking. 

"Sixth. — It should not run to water or become very wet on stand- 
ing for a day or so, but should, on the contrary, be dry upon the surface. 

"Seventh. — When dried at a temperature of 212° or thereabouts, it 
should not lose more than 70 to 74 per cent, of its weight, whereas bad 
meat will often lose as much as 80 per cent." 

To this it may be added, that there should be no sign of the presence 
of parasites. The fat also should neither be deficient nor excessive. 

To assist in judging of the freshness of meat, a clean knife may be 
passed into it and applied to the nose on withdrawal. In this way the 
condition of the centre may be ascertained. 

Unwholesomeness of meat may be due (1) to the condition of the ani- 
mal previous to death, or (2) to the effects of decomposition afterward. 
Remarks will be offered under each of these heads: 

1. Unwholesomeness of meat arising from the condition of the animal 
previous to death. — The conditions productive of unwholesome meat, 
under this head, are: — 

a. The existence of parasites; 
h. Infectious diseases; and » 

c. Contamination by some drug or other noxious agent adminis- 
tered or consumed during;- life. 



* Lectures on Food, p. 235. 1870. 



98 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

a. — Meat infested with parasites is known with absolute certainty to 
be liable to injuriously affect the consumer. 

There is one form of parasite which is frequently met with, particu- 
larly in the flesh of the pig, here giving rise to what is known as *' measly 
pork." It constitutes the Gysticercus cellulosce, which consists of a little 
animal possessing a tapeworm-like head with a bladder-like tail, from 
which its name is derived. It lies in the flesh, surrounded by a cyst, 
which in the pig is about the size of a hemp-seed, and thus is easily seen. 
It appears to be widely spread amongst the pigs in Ireland, to the extent, 
it is stated,* of rendering at least 3 per cent, and probably 5 per cent, 
measly. The cysticerci of beef and veal are much smaller than those of 
pork, and require close inspection to discover them. 

Now, when meat thus infested is eaten in the raw or imperfectly 
cooked state, it gives rise to the development of tapeworm in the alimen- 
tary canal. The cysticerci, unless they have been killed, as they can be 
by the meat being well cooked throughout, change their form when they 
reach the alimentary canal into that of tapeworms. The cysticercus of 
pig's flesh becomes the Twnia soliujn, and that of beef and veal the Tcenia 
medio- canellata. 

Far more serious effects are produced by meat infested with another 
parasite — the Trichina spiralis. This animal has been known and de- 
scribed for some years, but it has only recently been recognized as capa- 
ble of exerting a mischievous action within the system. It was formerly 
noticed that the animal was occasionally come across, as it were acci- 
dentally, in the course of anatomical dissection, and it could not be 
learnt that there was anything to betray its existence in the individual 
during life. It was therefore looked upon as a harmless parasite, and 
rather simply in the light of a dissecting-room curiosity than anything 
else. In 1860, however, circumstances occurred which led to the dis- 
covery that this animal was not at all times the innocent or harmless 
guest that had been formerly supposed. Briefly stated, the circumstances 
that brought this to light were these: 

A robust maid-servant, aged twenty-four, was admitted into the 
Dresden Hospital, January 12, 1860, under Prof. Zenker's care. She had 
been ailing since Christmas, and confined to bed since New Year's Day. 
Her symptoms presented some resemblance to typhoid fever, and, in the 
absence of other indications, w^ere at first put down to this malady. Soon, 
however, a new train of symptoms became developed. The whole mus- 
cular system became the seat of great pain, which was much increased 
by the slightest movement. The patient was constantly moaning. The 
arms and legs were drawn up, and could not be extended on account of 
the agony which the attempt induced. Inflammation of the lungs now 
supervened, and death occurred on the 27th. A post-mortem examina- 
tion revealed the existence of vast numbers of Trichince in the muscles 
in the non-encysted state, and disclosed the cause of the patient's anoma- 
lous symptoms and death. Inquiry was now set on foot, and it was ascer- 
tained that, four days before the girl was first taken ill, two pigs and an 
ox had been slaughtered at the house of her master. Some smoked ham 
and sausage were fortunately obtained by Prof. Zenker, which had been 
derived from one of the pigs that had been killed, and an examination 
showed that the flesh was infested with Trichince in an encysted state. 



*Prof. Gampfee's communication in the " Fifth Report of the Medical Officer to the 
Privy Council," 1863. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 99 

Since this case occurred others have been noticed, more particularly 
in Germany, in which the effects of the Tridihiod were recognized in 
their true light. In 1863 a catastrophe happened at Helstadt, in Prussia, 
which aroused universal attention, and excited a great deal of uneasiness 
in England as well as abroad. One hundred and three persons, mostly 
men in the prime of life, sat down to a festive dinner ordered at an hotel. 
Within a month more than twenty, it is stated, had died, and most of the 
others were suffering from the effects of the parasite. The result was 
traced to some smoked sausages, which had been made from a pig that 
had been noticed to be out of condition, and happened to be slaughtered 
for food by mistake. The THchinoe were discovered in the muscles of 
those affected, and the sausages that remained, and the meat from which 
they had been prepared, were found to be swarming with the parasite. 
After this, people naturally became frightened to eat German sausages, 
and inspectors were appointed to examine the meat before being used. 

The whole progress of the affection is now thoroughly known. When 
meat is eaten containing Ti'ichinoe, if the heat employed in cooking be 
not sufficient to destroy the life of the animal, symptoms begin to show 
themselves in a few days' time. The first effect noticeable is irritation 
of the alimentary canal, manifested under the form of vomiting and diar- 
rhoea. On reaching the stomach, the capsule in which the parasite is 
contained becomes dissolved. Thus liberated from its previously impris- 
oned condition, and finding in the intestine a favorable locality for its 
growth, the animal increases in size, and in two or three days attains 
three or four times its original dimensions. It may now be discerned by 
the naked eye, looking like a small piece of fine thread. The sexes are 
distinct, and the female gives rise to a large progeny — from three to five 
hundred, it is said — of little ones. These at once begin to migrate from 
the alimentary canal. They straightway pierce the walls of the intestine, 
pass through the peritoneal cavity, and spread themselves throughout 
the body. Now it is that febrile symptoms become established, and 
that they produce the terrible affection of the muscular system which 
forms so striking a feature of the sufferer's complaint. From the state 
induced, the strongest person may be carried off in the course of a few 
weeks' time. But should the patient survive the first effects of the para- 
site, a cyst is developed around it, and this, in the course of time, be- 
comes calcareous. Thus imprisoned, the animal seems to be perfectly 
harmless, and, apparently, may remain for years without further betray- 
ing any evidence of its existence. It is only, indeed, on reaching the 
alimentary canal of another animal that it occasions any further mischief, 
and then occurs a repetition of what has been described. 

TrichincB have been discovered in the flesh of a variety of animals — 
birds, and frogs, as well as mammals; but the pig is the animal that is 
most frequently found to be infested. Whilst in a free state within the 
muscle they may be scarcely susceptible, or even unsusceptible of detec- 
tion without the aid of a microscope. When first encysted, also, from 
the transparency of the cyst they are not easily seen, but when calcification 
of the cyst has occurred they are readily recognizable, and appear as 
white specks, or like little nits, lying amongst the muscular fibres. With- 
in the cyst the minute thread-like worm lies coiled up after a spiral fash- 
ion; hence the qualifying adjunct {spiralis) applied to the generic name. 

As a point of practical importance, it may be stated that neither salt- 
ing, smoking, nor moderately heating, affords any security against the 
development of the trichinous disease from infested meat. Exposure, 



100 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

however, to the temperature of boiling water effectively kills the animal, 
but it is obvious that the temperature must be raised throughout every 
particle of the meat to ensure that it is rendered harmless. 

Other parasites are encountered in the visceral organs of animals, 
but the Cysticerci and Trichince are the only ones, as far as is known, of 
a hurtful nature, in an alimentary point of view, that infest their ^esA. 

b. There are various diseases of an acute infectious nature and malig- 
nant type, such, particularly, as rinderpest, anthrax, and pleuro-pneumo- 
nia, to which animals are subject. Can the meat of animals that have 
been thus affected be eaten without producing injurious consequences ? 
The idea of it is repulsive, and, strangely, the answer to the question 
cannot be given in such a manner as our preconceived notions would lead 
us to expect. The conflicting opinions of various persons on this point 
show the amount of uncertainty that exists with regard to it. 

The diseases of live stock in relation to the public supply of meat for 
alimentary purposes, formed the subject of investigation by Professor 
Gamgee for the Fifth Report of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, 
published in 1863. From the evidence before him. Professor Gamgee, 
unpleasant as it may sound, arrived at the conclusion that as much as one- 
fifth of the common meat of the country was then derived from animals 
killed in a state of disease. It is difficult to obtain complete and precise 
data on such a point, but whether the estimate be correct or not, it may 
be taken as showing that a large amount of diseased meat was consumed 
by the public. This, however, included all diseases, and it is positively 
known that some need not be regarded as depriving the meat of whole- 
someness as food. 

Animals killed in the early stage of the simple inflammatory affections 
may be safely eaten, and also, of course, those killed by or as the result 
of some accidental injury. But what is the evidence for and against the 
deleteriousness of meat when a contagious poison has existed in the 
system ? 

On the one hand, it is stated, as an authentic fact, that during the 
prevalence of the cattle plague, or rinderpest, in England in 1865, large 
quantities of the meat of animals killed in all stages of the disease were 
eaten without being followed by any ill effect. The same absence of 
ill effect is also stated to have been observed after the consumption of 
meat derived from animals affected with anthrax and epidemic pleuro- 
pneumonia — other virulent contagious diseases. It is even asserted that 
when the steppe murrain was prevalent in Bohemia some years ago, the 
carcases of infected animals that had been killed and buried by order of 
the Government were dug up and eaten by the poor without any injury 
being sustained. 

On the other hand, instances have been placed on record where the 
most serious consequences have arisen from the employment of meat of 
this kind. A marked case in point is cited by Mr. Simon in his report to 
the Privy Council above alluded to.* He adduces it as conclusively 
showing that under some circumstances human life may be endangered 
by the use of cooked meat derived from an animal affected with anthrax, 
and states that the account of it was communicated to him by Mr. Keith, 
Senior Surgeon to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Subjoined are the 
main particulars. 



Fifth Iteport of the Medical Officer to the Privy Council, p. 28. 18G3. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 101 

During the first week of November, 1840, a two-year-old heifer, at a 
farm in Aberdeenshire, was observed to be unwell, and was slaughtered 
by the ploughman, aided by a neighboring blacksmith. A portion of the 
animal was salted down, and another appropriated to immediate use. A 
piece of the latter, which appeared quite fresh, and about which there was 
nothing wrong to be seen, was cooked next day in a pot of broth for the 
dinner of the family, which consisted of eleven persons. Of the eleven, 
two did not partake of it, and these remained well, whilst the nine who 
did partake of it were soon seized with such alarming symptoms of poison- 
ing that a medical man was at once called in. Two died and the others 
recovered.^ On the 12th of November both the ploughman and the black- 
smith were admitted into the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, suffering from 
phlegmonous erysipelas of the arm. The offal of the animal was cast 
upon a dung-heap, to which two swine had access. They ate it freely, 
and were both taken ill and died. 

The data in this case stand quite complete, the ill effects having been 
traced to the infected animal. More frequently it is only the ill effects 
that are observed, without information being procurable regarding the 
animal from which the meat was derived. For example, instances have 
been from time to time noticed, and some few have been placed on record, 
where a number of persons have suffered from symptoms of irritant 
poisoning after partaking of meat that has been purchased in a casual 
way, meat, it may be, that has presented no visible signs of unwhole- 
someness. Pork is known to be more likely to produce such ill effects 
than other kinds of meat, but perhaps something in this case may be due 
to the unwholesome food on which the animals are often fed. 

It has been suggested that the prevalence of boils and carbuncles may 
be sometimes attributable to the unconscious consumption of meat from 
diseased animals, and some statistics have been adduced in support of 
this view. The flesh of animals affected with a certain disorder is specifi- 
cally stated to have the effect of producing carbuncles. Dr. (now Sir 
Robert) Christison asserts * that the solids and fluids of animals suffering 
from a gangrenous carbuncular disorder, denominated Milzbrand in Ger- 
many, and analogous to the Pustule maligne of the French, are rendered 
so poisonous, that not only those who handle but those who eat the flesh 
are apt to suffer severely — the affection thus produced in man being some- 
times ordinary inflammation of the alimentary canal, but most commonly 
an eruption of one or more large carbuncles, resembling those of the 
original disease of the animal. Dr. Livingstone, in his " Missionary 
Travels and Researches in South Africa," p. 136, 1857, speaks of. the oc- 
currence of malignant carbuncle, called Knat8i or Selonda, as a result of 
eating the flesh of diseased animals. 

Looking, therefore, at the evidence before us regarding the effects of 
consuming meat derived from animals suffering from infectious disease, 
it appears that diametrically opposite results have been observed. It may 
be concluded that some kind of subtle poison exists, and that this may 
become neutralized or destroyed by the process of cooking and digestion, 
but why such an event should occur in some cases and not in others, is 
indeed diflficult to understand. Practically, however, seeing that serious 
consequences may ensue, it is only right to look upon all such meat as 
unsafe and unfit for human food. 



On Poisons, p. 633. Edinburgh, 1845. 



102 A TREATISE 01^ FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

c. Meat may be rendered unwholesome by contamination with some 
drug- or noxious agent administered or consumed during life. 

Many examples of this have been known. The following is a striking- 
one, bearing on contamination by a drug administered as a remedial agent 
previous to slaughtering. It is quoted by Professor Gamgee and related 
by Dr. Kreutzer in the Central Zeitung fur die gesammte VeterindrTnedi- 
zinfiXr 1854. "Three hundred and one persons partook of the flesh of 
an ox that had been treated during life with the potassio-tartrate of an- 
timony. Of these, one hundred and seven suffered from violent vomit- 
ing, purging, etc., and mothers that were suckling children noticed violent 
effects on their babies. One of the affected persons died, and the cause of 
the attack was demonstrated by chemical analysis of the flesh, and of the 
contents of the stomach and intestine of the person that succumbed. 
This person had eaten only half a pound of the meat. Pigs, dogs, and cats 
that partook of the meat also suffered. Some of the meat was given to a 
magpie and it died." 

The flesh of cattle is sometimes rendered poisonous by the food con- 
sumed, without the animals themselves being affected. For instance, it 
is known that cattle fed in some of the districts of North America cannot 
be eaten without giving rise to violent symptoms of poisoning. The flesh 
of hares, also, which have fed upon the JRhododendron chrysanthemum is 
considered to be poisonous. 

2. Unioholesom,eness of meat arising from, decomposition. — Dr. Chris- 
tison says: "the tendency of putrefaction to impart deleterious qualities 
to animal matters originally wholesome has long been known, and is 
quite unequivocal. To those who are not accustomed to the use of tainted 
meat, the mere commencement of decay is sufficient to render meat insup- 
portable and noxious. Game, only decayed enough to please the palate 
of the epicure, has caused severe cholera in persons not accustomed to 
eat it in that state." * It cannot be said, however, that even putrid meat 
is poisonous to all, although it may prove so to many. The effect of 
habit would appear to confer some sort of immunity, judging from the 
accounts that are given of the state in which meat is eaten in some coun- 
tries. " The American Indians," says Wilkes, " all prefer their meat 
putrid, and frequently keep it until it smells so strong as to be disgust- 
ing. Parts of the salmon they bury underground for two or three months 
to putrefy, and the more it is decayed the greater delicacy they consider 
it." f Simmonds also states, with reference to the food of the Green- 
landers, that " the head and fins of the seal are preserved under the grass 
in summer, and in winter the whole seal is frequently buried in the snow. 
The flesh, half frozen, half putrid, in which state the Greenlanders term 
it mikiak, is eaten with the keenest appetite." X Rotten fish, we are also 
told, is used by the Burmese, Siamese, and Chinese as a sort of condi- 
ment, without any bad effect being produced. 

Cooking doubtless neutralizes, to some extent, the effect of decompo- 
sition; and the secretion of the stomach (gastric juice), with the strongly 
antiseptic properties it possesses, will tend to prevent any further ad- 
vance of ordinary decomposition as soon as the food reaches the stomach. 
Notwithstanding these salutary influences, however, experience shows 



* On Poisons, p. 635. Edinburgh, 1845. 

f U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. iv., p, 453. 

X Curiosities of Food, p. 32. 1850. 

/ 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 103 

that the resisting power enjoyed by those accustomed to our mode of life 
is not sufficient to allow meat tainted with decomposition to be consumed 
without incurring a risk of more or less severe gastro-intestinal derange- 
ment, if nothing more, being set up. 

In addition to meat being rendered unwholesome by ordinary putre- 
faction, it sometimes becomes so from undergoing, during the process of 
curing, another kind of decomposition. Meat rendered noxious by this 
modified and peculiar form of decomposition may present no marked ex- 
ternal signs of being unwholesome, and thus is produced a very serious 
source of danger. The change has been especially found to occur in the 
sausages cured by drying and smoking in Germany, and many fatal re- 
sults have been occasioned therefrom. Bacon, cheese, and other kinds of 
animal food have been also noticed in a similar manner to become delete- 
rious. The nature of the poisonous principle is not precisely known, but 
it is generally believed to consist of an acrid fatty acid. The symptoms 
produced are those of severe gastro-intestinal irritation, followed by ner- 
vous depression and collapse. Dr. Christison's work on "Poisons" con- 
tains a collection of particulars bearing on this matter. 

Poultry, Game, and Wild-fowl. — Next to mammals, birds are of 
the most importance to us in an alimentary point of view. As far as is 
known, there is no bird, and no part of any bird, nor any bird's eggy 
which may not be safely used as food. It must be stated, however, that 
some birds are rendered poisonous by the food which they have eaten. 
The pheasant, for instance, which feeds on the buds of the Calmia lati- 
folia in North America, is deemed poisonous during the winter and 
spring. It is also well known that the American partridges sent over here 
have been sometimes found to possess poisonous properties. 

The flesh of birds differs from that of mammals in never being mar- 
bled or having fat mixed with the muscular fibres. 

Domesticated or tame birds, such as the common fowl, turkey, 
guinea-fowl, duck, and goose, fall under the denomination of poultry. 
Under the head of game a limited number of wild birds are included, 
and particularly the pheasant, partridge, and grouse. Wild-fowl com- 
prise untamed aquatic birds. There are many other edible birds, in- 
cluding especially the smaller ones, which cannot be grouped under 
either of these heads. 

The flesh belonging to different birds presents considerable variation 
— in some being white, and in others quite dark-colored. It also varies 
in different parts of the same animal, that on the wings and breast being 
whiter, drier, and of a more delicate taste than that on the legs. On ac- 
count of the legs being higher flavored, they are preferred by many. In 
the blackcock the layer of muscles forming the outer part of the breast 
is of a dark brown color, whilst the deeper part is white. To a less ex- 
tent a similar difference is also observed in many other birds. 

The fowl, turkey, and guinea-fowl amongst poultry, which form 
white-fleshed birds, stand in a very different position from ducks and 
geese. The flesh of the former is delicate-flavored, tender, and easy of 
digestion. It also possesses less stimulating properties than ordinary 
meat, and is thus well adapted for the delicate stomach of the dyspeptic 
and invalid. The flesh of the latter, on the other hand, is harder, richer, 
or stronger tasted, and far more difficult of digestion. It is therefore 
to be avoided where weakness of stomach exists. 

The fattening of poultry for the table forms in some parts of the 



104 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

country an extensive branch of industr}'-, and the improvement that is 
effected in the quality, equally as regards tenderness and flavor as size, of 
the bird is exceedingl}'- striking. Exercise is unfavorable to fatty de- 
posit, and wild birds, unless it should happen that they keep at rest, are 
not likely to become fat. Domesticated birds, also, that are allowed to 
run about do not become fat to the same extent as those confined at rest. 
The art of fattening consists in keeping the animal at rest, and supply- 
ing it with an abundance of an appropriate fattening food, and it is sub- 
jected to this process for a few weeks before it is required. It is found 
that the animal in a sexless state grows to a larger size, fattens better, 
is more tender eating, and finer flavored than one in which the sexual or- 
gans exist {vide p. 90). Improvement for the use of the table is thus 
effected by castration and spaying. For the proper effect it is necessary 
that the operation should be performed at an early age. The capon and 
poulard are the result, and their superior qualities are well known. 

The flesh of game contains a smaller amount of fat than that of poul- 
try, and is regarded as possessing more strengthening properties. It is 
also tender and easy of digestion, and possesses a marked but delicate 
flavor, which increases by keeping. The aromatic bitter taste, for in- 
stance, of the grouse is more pronounced after the bird has been hung a 
little time than when eaten in a fresh state. The flesh about the back 
possesses this flavor in a higher degree than that elsewhere, and hence 
this part is often selected as a home houche by epicures. Each kind of 
bird has its special flavor, and thus considerable variety is presented. 
The flavor of the partridge and quail is exceedingly delicate, and so also 
is that of the snipe and woodcock, but these latter birds are richer. 
From the qualities possessed by it, game is tempting to the appetite of 
the invalid. Its easy digestibility renders it further well suited for a 
weak stomach. It therefore forms a valuable article of food for the sick 
room, and is often found to be better borne than poultry or meat. It 
may, however, prove too rich; and to obviate this, as far as possible, the 
bird should be kept long enough to secure tenderness, and the breast 
only should be eaten. 

Wild-fowl requires strong digestive power to dispose of it. Its flesh 
is close and firm. Its taste also is strong, and often of a fishy nature — a 
character which becomes more pronounced by keeping, so that the bird 
is at its best when in a fresh state for eating. 

The pigeon and many other birds are eaten which do not fall under 
the head of either poultry, game, or wild-fowl. The flesh is usually tender 
in proportion to the smallness of the animal. 

The flesh of the rabbit and the hare more resembles that of poultry 
and game than butcher's meat. It is characterized in each case by the 
small quantity of fat it contains. That of the hare possesses to a marked 
extent savory and stimulating properties, of which the flesh of the rab- 
bit is comparatively void. So far the rabbit would form suitable food for a 
delicate stomach; but, although tender, its fibres are close, and it cannot 
be regarded as possessing the digestibility belonging to many other kinds 
of animal food. 

Fisri. — Fish is an important article of nourishment. A very large 
number of different kinds of it, both fresh water and salt water, are con- 
sumed, giving great variety to this kind of food. The amount that 
must exist in the vast waters of the ocean may also be regarded as 
rendering the supply inexhaustible. In some places it constitutes by 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 105 

necessity the chief or sole sustenance of the people, who are hence styled 
Ichthyophagi. The inhabitants of the most northern parts of Europe, 
Asia, and America, where it is too cold for any of the higher forms of 
vegetation to grow, are mainly dependent upon food of which the chief 
portion consists of fish derived from the sea. In Siberia, fish after being 
dried, is ground into powder, and formed into a substance w^hich is used 
instead of bread. Putrid fish, we are told, is even the favorite and ordi- 
nary food of some tribes. 

Althouo'h from time immemorial fish has formed an article of food 

o ... 

more or less consumed by most people, yet many prejudices used to exist 
with regard to it. The Egyptian priests were forbidden to eat fish of 
any kind, under the idea that it increased the sexual appetite, or that it 
was the cause of leprosy. For the latter reason the people also were 
forbidden to eat fish not covered with scales. In the writings of Moses 
it is stated: " Whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, 
and the rivers, them shall ye eat. . . . Whatsoever hath no fins or 
scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you." * Rightly or 
wrongly, English history says that Henr}'- I. got a surfeit, and died from 
eating too heartily of lampreys, a food against which he had been often 
cautioned. There does not appear to be any substantial foundation, 
however, for the belief that formerly prevailed; for the lamprey and the 
sturgeon also— another fish without scales — are now extensively eaten by • 
some communities without any bad effects. 

If present experience does not permit any basis of selection being 
given, it does show that fish is not invariably free from poisonous proper- 
ties. It is especially in tropical climates where poisonous fish are en- 
countered. Some are poisonous at all times, others only at certain sea- 
sons. Individuals of certain species may be poisonous, whilst others 
of the same species, that are not to be distinguished by any external 
characters, are free, it is stated, from deleterious properties — a circum- 
stance which renders the eating of fish in such countries not without 
danger. Some persons, it is also said, escape, whilst others are injuriously 
affected. The symptoms produced f are sometimes allied to those of 
cholera. Sometimes an eruption, often resembling nettle-rash, is occa- 
sioned, and, it may be, various nervous disorders, as trembling or con- 
vulsive twitches of the limbs, paralysis, and stupor. 

It is not definitely known to what the deleterious effects of the 
poisonous fish are to be ascribed. They have been variously referred to 
the aliment on which the animals have fed, to their being in a diseased 
state, to decomposition, and to idiosyncrasy on the part of the person af- 
fected. A fish is said to justify suspicion " if it has attained an unusu- 
ally large size, or is destitute of the natural fishy smell, or has black 
teeth, or if silver or an onion boiled along with it becomes black; but all 
these tests are unreliable." 

As an article of nourishment, fish does not possess the satisfying and 
stimulating properties that belong to the flesh of quadrupeds and birds. 
Still the health and vigor of the inhabitants of fishing towns, where fish 
may form the only kind of animal food consumed, show that it is capable 
of contributing, in an effective manner, to the maintenance of the body 
under active conditions of life. On account of its being less satisfying 
than meat, the appetite returns at shorter intervals, and a larger quantity 
is required to be consumed. 

* Leviticus xi. 9-13. f Pereira on Food and Diet, p. 284. 1843. 



106 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Dr. Davy says: "If we give our attention to classed people — classed 
as to the quality of food they principally subsist on — we shall find that 
the ichthyophagous class are especially strong, healthy, and prolific. In 
no other class than in that of fishers do we see larger families, handsomer 
women, or more robust and active men." * 

As a less stimulating article of food than meat, fish possesses valuable 
properties in a therapeutic point of view, and is constantly being advan- 
tageously employed when the powers are too weak for the stronger kinds 
of animal food to be borne. 

The flesh of some fish is white, and that of others more or less red. 
The former is less stimulating and lighter to the stomach or more easy of 
digestion than the latter. 

Amongst the fish having white flesh are the whiting, haddock, cod, 
sole, turbot, brill, plaice, flounder, etc. The flesh contains but little fat, 
as the following analysis will show. The fat existing in the animal is es- 
pecially accumulated in the liver, and in the cod-fish, particularly when in 
season, the liver is enormously gorged with oil. 

Composition of White Fish. 

Nitrogenous matter, ....... 18.1 

Fat, 2.9 

Saline matter, ........ 1.0 

Water, 78.0 



100.0 



The flesh of the salmon, particularly, presents a strong contrast in color 
to that of the fish above enumerated. It approaches meat in redness, and 
is regarded as approaching it also more closely than other fish in sustain- 
ing properties. Fatty matter is incorporated with the muscular fibres, 
and there is also a layer of superficial fat beneath the skin. This is more 
abundant in the abdominal or thinner than in the dorsal or thicker part 
of the animal — hence the richer flavor, and thereby the preference given 
to the former for eating. 

Composition of Salmon, 

Nitrogenous matter, . . * . . . , . 16.1 

Fat, 5.5 

Saline matter, . . . . , . . .1.4 
Water, 77.0 



100.0 



The mackerel, eel, herring, sprat, and pilchard are other fish charac- 
terized by the presence of fatty matter incorporated with the flesh. Thus 
it is that these fish are richer and less suited to a delicate stomach than 
the white fish. The eel especially is rich in fat, as is shown by the fol- 
lowing analysis from Letheby's table: 

* The Angler and His Friend, by John Davy, M.D., F.R.S., p. 114. London, 1855. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 107 

Composition of Eels. 

Nitrogenous matter, . . . . • . . .9.9 

Fat, 13.8 

Saline matter, . . . . . . . .1.3 

Water, 75.0 



100.0 
Payen's analysis gives a still considerably larger quantity of fat, thus; 
Composition of Eels Deprived of the Non-edible Portions (Pay en). 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Fatty matter, .... 
Mineral matter. 

Non-nitrogenous matter and loss. 
Water, . . . . . 



13.00 

23.86 

0.77 

0.30 

62.07 

100.00 



Of all fish the whiting may be regarded as the most delicate, tender^ 
easy of digestion, and least likely to disagree with a weak stomach. It 
is sometimes styled the chicken of the fish tride. The haddock is sorne-^ 
what closely allied but has a firmer texture, and is inferior in flavor and di- 
gestibility. The sole is a tender and digestible fish. It also has a delicate 
flavor, and deservedly enjoys a high reputation as an article of food for t he- 
invalid. The flounder is light and easy of digestion, but insipid. In ail 
cases where fish is required for a weak stomach, either boiling or broiling 
should constitute the process of cooking. Frying is objectionable on ac- 
count of the fatty matter used rendering the fish rich and more indigestible.r 

The cod-fish is far from possessing the digestibility that is enjoyed by 
most other white fish. It varies in quality a great deal, but some of it is- 
exceedingly hard, tough, stringy or woolly, and indigestible. I believe 
it to be a more trying article of food to the stomach than is generally 
credited. When reputed to be in good condition, or in season, the flesh, 
which is arranged in flakes, becomes opaque on boiling. The juice be- 
tween the flakes also undergoes alteration, and produces a layer of white 
curdy matter, apparently consisting of coagulated albumen. When out 
of season, this white curdy matter is absent, and the flesh remains, after 
being boiled, semi-transparent and bluish. In this state it is evidently 
not so nourishing, but being more watery and soft, I believe it is more 
easy of digestion. Indeed, some few instances have fallen under my 
notice where eating what would be called cod-fish in a state of high per- 
fection — that is, cod-fish in a firm, flaky, and opaque state after being 
boiled — has been followed by an attack of indigestion. 

Crimping increases the firmness of the flesh, and is often employed in 
the case of cod-fish. It must be effected whilst the muscular fibres re- 
tain their vitality, or before rigor mortis has set in. The fish when caught 
is struck on the head, and afterward a number of transverse incisions 
are made. It is then immersed in cold water, which occasions a strong 
contraction of the muscular fibres, and causes the flesh to assume a firmer 
state than would otherwise be the case. It is considered that crimped 
cod is not only firmer, but keeps longer, and has a better flavor than that 
which has not been crimped. Rigidity or firmness of flesh being due to 



108 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

rigor mortis, which passes off in the course of time, its existence in all 
fish affords a sign of freshness. 

The turbot for flavor is deservedly held in high estimation. It is 
firmer and richer, but less digestible than other kinds of flat fish, as the 
sole, flounder, and plaice. 

Brill is also an excellent fish, but is inferior in flavor to the turbot, 
for which it is sometimes substituted. 

In both turbot and brill, the skin, on boiling, swells and assumes a 
gelatinous character. This is eaten as a choice part. Its appearance 
would lead to the supposition of its being easily digestible, but, whether 
-on account of its rich flavor or not, it appears to be more apt than the 
flesh to disagree with the stomach. 

The sturgeon is a fish that is not much eaten in this country. Its 
flesh is looked upon as presenting some resemblance in taste and char- 
acter to veal. 

The quality of fish as an article of food is influenced by the act of 
spawning, and presents considerable variation at different periods. It is 
just previous to spawning that the animal is in its highest state of per- 
fection. Its condition altogether is then at its best point. The animal 
is fatter than at any other period, and of a richer flavor for eating. Dur- 
ing the process of spawning its store of fatty matter is drawn upon, and 
it becomes poor, thin, and waterj'^ or flabby. It is now said to be " out 
of season," and requires time to arrive in condition again. In fish like 
the cod, where the fatty matter accumulates specially in the liver, this 
organ presents a most striking difference in volume and condition before 
and after spawning; whilst in such as the salmon, herring, etc., where 
the fat is dispersed amongst the flesh, it is the body which affords the chief 
-evidence of change. As the salmon enters the rivers from the sea, for the 
purpose of ascending them and depositing its spawn, it is plump and well 
provided with fat. On its return the contrast in its condition is very great. 
It is now so exhausted and thin as to be looked upon as unfit for food. 

Young fish which have not arrived at an age for spawning do not 
present any variation, but are always " in season." 

After the operation of castration and spaying, it has been found also 
that fish maintain a uniform condition. The operation has never been 
practised to any extent, but an account of it has been given by Mr. Tull 
in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1754. The object of its original 
performance appears to have been to prevent the excessive increase of 
fish in some ponds where the numbers did not permit any of them to grow 
to an advantageous size. Not only, it is stated, was the desired result 
attained, but the fish that had undergone the operation grew much larger 
than their usual size, were more fat, and remained always "in season." 

The flavor of fish is much influenced by the nature of their food. In 
general, sea-fish are better that have been caught in deep water off rocky 
headlands where the current is strong, than in estuaries and bays where 
the water is shallow and the current weak. As regards fresh-water fish, 
those which have been obtained from deep lakes or ponds with clear water 
and a rocky or gravelly bottom are far superior in flavor to those obtained 
from shallow water on a muddy bottom. The earthy taste of the latter, 
indeed, may be so strong as to render them also uneatable, but fish 
bred in such water may be deprived of their unpleasant flavor by being 
kept for some time, before being killed, in ponds of clear water with a 
gravelly bottom. 

With reference to the edible qualities of fish. Dr. Davy says: ** As 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 10^ 

to individual species, whether of sea or fresh-water fish, there are notable 
differences and peculiarities, some depending on the species, some on the 
qualities of the feed. Of the first we have instances almost without num- 
ber, inasmuch as almost each kind has some distinctive peculiarity. The 
delicate smelt has the odor of the cucumber ; the grayling of thyme ; 
some of those of the Scomber family abound in blood, have a compara- 
tively high temperature, and dark-colored muscles; others, as those of the 
Galidce, of which group the whiting is one, have little blood, at least few 
red corpuscles, have white muscles, and are delicately tasted; some, as the 
common ray, and most of the order of cartilaginous fish, have a muscular 
fibre of much firmness and power of resistance, yielding and becoming 
tender from keeping, and consequently, contrary to the general rule ap- 
plicable to fish, they should not be dressed fresh; and other differences- 
might be pointed out: one kind abounding in oil, as the pilchard, her- 
ring, and eel — the eel especially, and so luscious in consequence — other 
kinds containing little or no oil, as the sole and ray. 

*'0f the influence of feed on the same kind of fish we have striking- 
examples, both in many salt-water and fresh-water species. Of the former, 
how different in quality is the herring caught off different parts of the 
coast; so too, of the common haddock. What herring is equal to that of 
Loch Fine; what haddock equal to that of the Bay of Dublin ? Of fresh- 
water fish, what a contrast there is between the lake-trout and the brook- 
trout ! — the one well fed, well flavored, of the color of the salmon; the 
other small, colorless, and insipid. What a contrast between either of 
these and the trout of bog-water; the latter black, ill-formed, and ill- 
tasted. What a contrast, again, between the trout inhabiting a stream 
in a fertile limestone district fed by springs, fluctuating little, and the in- 
dwellers of the mountain-stream of a primitive country, subject to great 
fluctuations — one day a raging torrent, in a brief space run out and all 
but dried up. As with other animals, whether beast or bird, domestic or 
wild, much, we know, as to their quality depends on their feed, its kind, 
and quantity, and so with fish. Of these the paradoxical sturgeon may 
be mentioned as another and very striking example; by the Norwegians^ 
we are informed by Block, it is even designated after the fish on which, 
from its flavor, it is supposed to have fed, as the mackerel-sturgeon, her- 
ring-sturgeon, etc. 

"Other circumstances besides food, no doubt, have likewise an effect 
— all which anywise influence the health, such as climate, air, water, etc. ; 
nor amongst these should age be omitted. This last, in the instance of 
fish, and of fish only, is little thought of at home; and it may be because, 
in our well-fished seas, rivers, and lakes, few fish are allowed to reach a 
very advanced age; but not so in the tropical seas, where there is not the 
same activity practised in the capture of fish; there it is not uncommon to 
be helped at table to an old fish, and to have its hardness and toughness 
explained by one's experienced host by reference to age."* 

The turbot is a fish which improves in flavor and tenderness by keep- 
inor- for a little time before beinor- dressed. Trout and salmon cannot be 
sent to table too soon after being caught. Eaten immediately after be- 
ing killed, they possess a delicate sweet flavor which quickly disappears- 
on keeping. It is thus impossible to have trout, in particular, in the same 
state of perfection at a distance from the stream where they are caught 
as on the spot itself. 

* The Angler and His Friend, by John Davy, M.D., F.R.S., p. 117. London, 1855, 



110 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



What is called the roe of fish constitutes the reproductive secreting 
organs, which attain a very large size, and render the animals exceedingly 
prolific. The hard roe belongs to the female, and is formed by the ovary. 
The soft roe or milt belongs to the male, and is formed by the spermatic 
organ. Both are eaten. The parts belonging to the male cod are used 
as a garnish to the fish when served. 

(Javiare is the hard roe of the sturgeon preserved by salting. It is 
pretty extensively employed as a common food in Russia, but in this coun- 
try is consumed only as a relish at the table of the rich, the mode of serv- 
ing it being on dry toast. 

Cod sounds represent the swimming-bladder of the animal. They are 
dried and eaten separately. The swimming-bladder of the sturgeon, in 
particular, also yields the well-known article, isinglass. 

The processes of drying, salting, smoking, and pickling are employed 
for the preservation of fish. Each process considerably lessens the di- 
gestibility of the article, and fish so prepared are, therefore, unsuited for 
the dyspeptic and invalid. 

SiiELL-FisiT. — Shell-fish are derived from both the crustacean and mol- 
luscous tribes of animals. They yield a less nutritive kind of food than 
that which has been already considered, but must nevertheless be looked 
upon as holding a position of considerable imjjortance in an alimentary 
point of view. 

Shell-fish, taken altogether, are more indigestible and apt to upset the 
stomach than other kinds of animal food. Whether from idiosyncrasy on 
the part of the person affected, as is doubtless often the case, or from nox- 
ious properties in the particular animals eaten, shell-fish not unfrequently 
produce urgent symptoms of derangement. Sometimes the symptoms 
are those of gastro-intestinal irritation, as, for instance, nausea, vomiting, 
colic, cramps, and purging. Sometimes an eruptive disorder of the skin, 
and more particularly nettle-rash, is induced. So strong, indeed, is the 
tendency in some for such affection of the skin to be developed, that it is 
occasionally found necessary to scrupulously exclude shell-fish from the 
diet. At other times giddiness and other symptoms of disorder of the 
nervous system, as paralysis, coma, and convulsions, have been noticed, 
and instances of death have been known to occur. 

The crustaceans commonly eaten consist of the lobster, crab, crawfish, 
shrimp, and prawn. They are all regarded as choice articles of food. The 
flesh belonging to them is white and firm. 

Composition of the Edible Portions of the Lobster (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter, . . . . 

Fatty matter, 

Mineral matter, . . . . , 
Non-nitrogenous matter and loss, 
Water, 



Flesh, 

19.170 
1.170 
1.823 
1.219 

76.618 



100.000 



Soft internal 
substance. 



12.140 
1.444 
1.749 
0.354 

84.313 

100.000 



Spawn. 



21.892 
8.234 
1.998 
4.893 

62,983 

100.000 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. Ill 

The lobster occupies a higher position in public estimation than the 
crab. The flesh of the two is much alike, but the flavor is different, that 
of the lobster being the more delicate, and apparently the least likely to 
disagree. 

The female, or hen-lobster as it is called, is in special request for 
making sauce, for the sake of the spawn or eggs belonging to it. These 
are attached beneath the tail, and consist of little round bodies. They are 
black in their natural state, but become of a bright red on boiling. They 
are pounded and mixed with the sauce, and thus give it after boiling the 
desired red color, as well as some amount of flavor. There is another 
part inside the animal which becomes of a bright red color on boiling. 
This is called the coral. It consists of the ovary, and is used for gar- 
nishing. 

The flesh of the lobster is mainly found in the tail and claws. That 
of the claws is more tender, delicate, and digestible than that of the tail, 
which is firmer and closer. 

The thorny or spiny lobster, or sea-crawfish, is sometimes substituted 
for the ordinary lobster. It eats much like it, but is, perhaps, rather 
inferior in flavor and tenderness. 

The flesh belonging to the claws of the crab is far less likely to disa- 
gree with the stomach than the soft part contained within the shell. This 
is rich, and somewhat of the consistence of brain-matter, a name that is 
often popularly applied to it, although it really consists of liver. 

The brancheae, or gills, sometimes called " dead men's fingers," are in 
the case of both the lobster and the crab carefully avoided, but there is 
no foundation for the notion that they possess any deleterious properties. 

Althous^h an ao-reeable article of food to many, the lobster and crab 
are not fit, on account of their difficult digestibility, for the stomach of 
the invalid and dyspeptic. They also disagree with some persons pos- 
sessing an ordinary amount of digestive power: producing a sense of 
weight in the epigastrium, nausea, and, it may be, vomiting. A cuta- 
neous eruption, and other urgent symptoms, have occasionally been pro- 
duced by these as well as other shell-fish. 

Popular usages generally rest upon some substantial foundation, and 
the almost universal employment of vinegar and pepper as an adjunct to 
the kind of food under consideration has doubtless arisen from the advan- 
tage shown by experience to accrue therefrom. Indeed, the use of these 
condiments is almost looked upon as a matter of course, and they will 
have the effect — the one of stimulating- an increased flow of diofestive 
secretion, and the other of furnishing a certain amount of additional acid, 
and thereby augmenting the energy of the natural secretion. Thus in- 
creased power will be provided, by the agency of these adjuncts, to meet 
the difficult digestibility of the crustaceans in question. 

The river or fresh-water crawfish is obtained from brooks and streams 
in certain localities. It' is an animal of only moderate dimensions. Its 
flesh is softer and more digestible than that of the lobster. When eaten 
it is rather as a relish than for the actual amount of nourishment yielded. 
It enters as an ingredient into Bisque soup, and sometimes it is used 
simply as a garnish. 

Shrimps and prawns are a favorite article of food with all classes of 
society. Although they cannot be reputed as easy of digestion, or adapted 
for a weak stomach, yet they are not so likely to disagree as the lobster 
and crab. 

Of the shell-fish belono-ino: to the molluscous tribe consumed in this 



112 A TREATISE OlS" FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

country some are bivalve, such as the oyster, mussel, scallop and cockle, 
whilst others are univalve, as the periwinkle, whelk, and limpet. 

Oysters have always held a high rank amongst the delicioe gulosorum. 
They are found on various parts of our coast, and are caught by dredg- 
ing, but instead of being consumed at once they are transferred to oyster- 
beds in creeks along the shore for the purpose of being " fattened." 
Here they quickly undergo a marked increase in size, become more 
plump, and improve in flavor. Colchester is the head-quarters as a feed- 
ing-ground for the metropolis. Arrived in London, some of the sales- 
men keep them for a few days and place some oatmeal in the water with 
the view of still further improving their whiteness and plumpness. The 
small " native " has the greatest delicacy of taste, and possesses the 
highest market value. 

Oysters are a nutritious kind of food. Different opinions have pre- 
vailed regarding their digestibility. Seeing, however, how often they 
can be borne without inconvenience by a delicate stomach, it may be con- 
cluded that they are not difficult to dispose of, and especially when it is 
considered that from the manner in which they are usually eaten, viz., 
without being subjected to mastication, they are rarely swallowed in as 
favorable a state for digestion as other kinds of food. By many the whole 
animal is eaten, whilst those who are dainty over them remove the outer 
fringed part, or beard, which constitutes the gills. Of the remainder there 
is a soft and a somewhat hard portion. The former consists mainly of 
liver, which in this animal is a very bulky organ. The latter is composed 
of the adductor muscle, which serves to connect the two shells together. 
It forms by far the most indigestible part of the oyster, and should be 
carefully rejected where any weakness of stomach exists. 

Oysters are more digestible in the raw than in the cooked state. 
Cooking, whether by grilling, scalloping, or stewing, coagulates and 
hardens them, and thereby renders them more difficult of solution in the 
stomach. 

Composition of Oysters (Pay en). 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Fatty matter, ..... 
Saline matter, ..... 
Non-nitrogenous matter and loss, . 
Water, 


Mean of two series- 
of analyses. 
. 14.010 
. 1.515 
. 2.695 
. 1.395 
. 80.385 



100.000 

Though generally wholesome, oysters have been sometimes known ta 
possess noxious properties, and to have given rise to symptoms of poison- 
ing. At the time of spawning they lose their good condition, and are 
reckoned " out of season." It is in the month of May that they cast their 
spawn, which the dredgers call the spat. They are now in a poor and 
sickly state. During the months of June and July they pick up, and in 
August regain their former condition. There is an old saying that an 
oyster is only good when there is an " r " in the name of the month. 

Mussels are consumed pretty largely, but they do not reach the table 
of the higher classes in the same way as the oyster. They are subjected 
to a preparatory process of cooking, usually by stewing in their own 
liquor. There is a little tongue-like, hardish, dark-colored mass belonging- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



113 



to them -which is generally picked out, under the supposition that it is 
deleterious. No proof of this, however, exists, as many persons consume 
the mussel whole without experiencing any injurious consequences. 



Composition of Mussels (Pay en). 



Nitrogenous matter, . , . . 


. 11.72 


Fatty matter, . . . . . 


. 2.42 


Saline matter, . . . . . 


. 2.73 


Non-nitrogenous matter and loss, 


. 7.39 


VV 3»tGi • • • • • • 


. 75.74 



100.00 

Of all kinds of shell-fish most frequently found to exert deleterious 
effects, the mussel stands pre-eminent. It is well known to the public that 
it is liable to act in this way. Sometimes all who partake of a prepared 
dish suffer, whilst at other times some may be affected and others escape. 
Dr. Christison, in his work on '^ Poisons," refers to an instance which 
occurred at Leith in 1827, in which no fewer than thirty people were 
severely affected and two persons died. As in other cases, it has not been 
clearly ascertained to what the poisonous effects are attributable. 

Scallops, cockles, periwinkles, limpets, and whelks are not of sufficient 
importance as articles of food to require any further notice here. They 
are principally sold in the streets, and eaten only by a limited class of 
people. 

Eggs. — Eggs necessarily contain all that is required for the construc- 
tion of the body, as the young animal is developed from it, but, as Liebig 
has pointed out, the shell must be taken into account as well as its con- 
tents. During the process of incubation, in fact, the earthy matter of 
the shell becomes gradually dissolved and applied to the purposes of 
growth. Phosphoric acid, formed by the gradual oxidation of phos- 
phorus, constitutes the solvent agent, and the shell is found to become 
progressively thinner and thinner, until at last it is no thicker than a 
sheet of letter paper. 

Various eggs are eaten, including those of reptiles — as, for instance, 
the turtle — as well as birds; but it is especially the ^^^ of the fowl 
which is employed as a general article of food, and to this the succeeding 
remarks are intended to refer. 

The average weight of an ^^^ is about two ounces avoirdupois, and 
the quantity of dry solid matter contained in it amounts to about two 
hundred grains. It is composed of shell, white, and yolk, and in one 
hundred parts about ten consist of shell, sixty of white, and thirty of 
yolk. 



Composition of the Entire Contents of the Egg. 

Nitrogenous matter, .... ... 

Fatty matter, ..... ... 

Saline matter, ........ 

W ater, ..•••...• 



14.0 

10.5 

1.5 

74.0 

100.0 



114 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Composition of the White of Egg. 

Nitrogenous matter, ....... 20.4 

Fatty matter, ........ — 

Saline matter, ... . . . . . 1.6 

Water, 78.0 



100.0 



Composition of the Yolk of Egg. 

Nitrogenous matter, ....... 16,0 

Fatty'matter, 30.7 

Saline matter, . . ...... 1.3 

Water, . . 52.0 



100.0 



The white of the egg, as shown by the above analysis, contains a 
considerably larger proportion of water than the yolk. It contains no 
fatty matter, but consists mainly of albumen in a dissolved state, and 
enclosed within very thin-walled cells. It is this arrangement which gives 
to the white of %^^ its ropy, gelatinous state. Thoroughly shaking or 
beating it up with water breaks the cells and removes the ropy state. 

The yolk of the egg forms a kind of yellow emulsion. Ail the fatty 
matter of the ^^^ is accumulated in this portion of it, and it here 
amounts to as much as 30 per cent. The fat is held in suspension or 
emulsified by the albuminous matter of the yolk, which constitutes a 
slight modification of that of the white, and is called vitelline. The yolk 
contains relatively a less proportion of nitrogenous matter than the 
white. The proportion of solid matter, on account of the fat, is consider- 
ably greater. An enveloping membrane or bag surrounds the yolk, and 
keeps the fluid matter of which it is composed together. Being lighter 
than the white, it floats to that portion of the ^^^ which is uppermost, 
but is kept in position between the two extremities by two processes of 
inspissated albumen, called chalazse, which pass and are attached one to 
either end of the Q^^. 

The quality of eggs varies according to the food upon which the fowl 
is kept. Certain articles of food communicate a distinct flavor to the ^^^. 

In an alimentary point of view, therefore, the white and yolk differ 
markedly from each other, the one being mainly a simple solution of 
albumen, the other a solution of a modified form of albumen associated 
with a considerable quantity of fat. 

Reckoning the weight of an ^^^ at two ounces, and that one-tenth of 
this consists of shell, the contents will furnish the following amounts 
of dry constituents, the percentage composition given above being taken 
as the basis of calculation: 

Dry Constituents of the Contents of an Egg. 

Grains. 
Nitrogenous matter, ....... 110 

Fatty matter, 82 

,Saline matter, . . ... ... 11 



Total solid matter, .... 203 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 115 

Raw and lightly boiled eggs are easy of digestion. The hard-boiled 
egg offers considerable resistance to gastric solution, and exerts a consti- 
pating action on the bowels. 

The egg changes by keeping, and certain devices are practised to pre- 
serve its freshness. The shell, being porous, allows of the evaporation of 
fluid, and air accumulates in its place at one of the extremities. Thus, 
an egg under exposure to the air loses weight from day to day, and the 
diminution in density indicates the length of time it has been kept. For 
example, a solution of salt in the proportion of about 10 per cent. — that 
is, one ounce of salt in ten ounces of water — will just allow a fresh egg 
to sink, whilst one which has been. kept several days will swim. Bad 
eggs become sufficiently light to float even in pure water. 

The air w^hich finds its way through the pores of the shell into the 
egg causes gradual decomposition, until ultimately a state of putrescence 
is attained. With the view of excluding the air, eggs are sometimes 
placed and kept in lime-w^ater. The shell is also sometimes covered with 
a layer of wax and oil, or some other kind of fatty matter, and sometimes 
with gum. By packing in bran, salt, or some such material, they keep 
longer than they otherwise would do, but it must be remembered that 
eggs easily acquire a taste from that which surrounds them. Immersed 
for some hours in a solution of salt, some of the saline matter penetrates 
and tends to preserve the egg under subsequent exposure to the air. 

Fresh eggs are easily known by their translucency when held up to 
the light. By keeping they become cloudy, and when decidedly stale a 
distinct, dark, cloud-like appearance is discernible opposite some portion 
of the shelL A little instrument is sold as an egg-tester. It consists of 
a small square box, with a hole at the top to receive the egg, and another 
at one side to look into. By an arrangement of mirrors within, the state 
of the eo;"2: is seen when a strono* lig-ht is thrown in such a manner as to 
be transmitted through it. If the egg be fresh, the image seen in the 
mirror is almost transparent, whilst if stale it is more or less dark. 

Eggs are sometimes noticed to break spontaneously on being boiled. 
This occurs when the egg is suddenly plunged into a considerable amount 
of boiling water. The sudden expansion of the contents produced by the 
heat causes the shell to give way. Immersed in a small quantity of water 
only, the temperature is lowered sufficiently to prevent any immediate 
extensive expansion, and then, with the subsequent gradual elevation of 
the temperature, time is given for a little fluid to be forced through the 
pores of the shell from the pressure within, and perhaps, for the shell it- 
self to undergo some expansion. A stale egg is less likely to become 
broken in this way than a fresh one, on account of the air which has re- 
placed the evaporated fluid admitting easily of compression. 

Milk. — Milk, an article furnished and intended by nature as the sole 
food for the young of a certain class of animals, necessarily contains, like 
eggs, all the elements that are required for the growth and maintenance 
of the body. Holding the position it does, it may be justly regarded as 
the type of an alimentary substance. 

Good milk is a homogeneous, opaquely white, or very faintly buff- 
tinted liquid, which is entirely free from any viscidity, and undergoes no 
change on being heated. It has a sweet taste, and a slightly percepti- 
ble, agreeable odor. Its reaction, although formerly described as faintly 
acid, has been more recently ascertained to be slightly alkaline, or else 
neutral, when in a natural state and at the moment of removal. A little 



116 A TREATISE OX FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

later an acid character becomes perceptible, and is evidently due to the 
effect of change after removal. Its density varies, but 1030 may be looked 
upon as about the average in the case of cow's milk. Although appear- 
ing homogeneous to the naked eye, it in reality consists, as is shown by 
microscopic examination, of a clear liquid holding in suspension a multi- 
tude of little particles or globules, which constitute the cause of its opac- 
ity. These globules are of a fatty nature, and, -being lighter than the 
surrounding liquid, gradually rise to the surface, and form the cream 
which collects at the top of milk that is allowed to repose. 

The ingredients of milk consist of nitrogenous niatter, fatty matter, 
lactine, or sugar of milk, mineral matter, and water. 

The nitrogenous "matter is chiefly composed of caseine, a principle 
which, unlike albumen, is not coagulated by heat, but is coagulabJe by 
acids, organic as well as mineral, and also by a neutral organic substance 
obtainable from the stomach, viz., pepsine, which forms the active prin- 
ciple of rennet. It is caseine which constitutes curd and the basis of 
cheese. It is thrown down, carrying with it in an entangled state the 
suspended fatty globules, not only by the addition of the agents men- 
tioned, but as a result of the spontaneous change which milk undergoes 
under exposure to air. The cause of this spontaneous coagulation is the 
development of lactic acid by a fermentative transformation of the lactine. 
As is well known, warmth greatly favors this change, and it does so to 
such an extent, that during the hot weather of summer, milk very quickly 
passes into a coagulated or curdled state. Contact with the smallest 
quantity of milk that has undergone the change also rapidly induces 
curdling throughout the whole bulk. Hence arises the necessity, as 
has been found by experience, of exercising the most scrupulous care in 
securing the utmost cleanliness of the vessels used for the purpose of 
storage. It may further be mentioned that, at the commencement of the 
change, an amount of lactic acid may have been generated insufficient to 
curdle the milk at the ordinary temperature, but sufficient to do so at a 
greater heat, because the action of the acid is then more energetic. This 
accounts for the circumstance frequently noticed in household economy, 
that milk may be liquid, and apparently fresh, at the ordinary tempera- 
ture, and yet shall curdle upon being boiled. 

Besides caseine, milk contains a little albumen, and a third nitro- 
genous principle in a small amount, which has been named lacto-proteine. 

The fatty matter constitutes butter. Whilst existing in milk it is 
suspended, as has been already mentioned, under the form of microscopic 
globules. These globules appear to be surrounded by an envelope of 
caseine or albuminoid matter, which becomes broken in the process of 
churning for the production of butter, so allowing the incorporation 
of the fatty matter to occur. It is seemingl}^ on account of this envelope 
that ether fails to dissolve out the fat when simply shaken up with milk; 
for if a small quantity of an alkali, as, for instance, potash, which may be 
presumed to dissolve the envelopes, be previously added, then ether im- 
mediately takes up the fat, leaving a clear watery liquid, consisting of 
the caseine, etc., lactine, and salts. 

Jjactine forms one of the varieties of sugar, and remains dissolved in 
the liquid from which both the curd and butter may have been sepa- 
rated. It has a less sweet taste, and is less soluble in water than ordi- 
nary sugar, is nearly insoluble in alcohol and ether, readily crystallizes, 
and reduces the cupro-potassic solution like grape-sugar, but is not 
directly susceptible of alcoholic fermentation. Alone it forms a stable 



ALIMEI^^TAEY SUBSTANCES. 



117 



compound, but in contact with decomposing nitrogenous matter it under- 
goes conversion into lactic acid, which accounts for the sourness that 
milk acquires on keeping. 

The mineral matter and water comprise the inorganic principles re- 
quired for the purposes of life. 

According to the analysis given in Dr. Letheby's table, cow's milk 
contains 14 per cent, of solid matter, which is distributed as follows: 



Composition of Colo's Milk. 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Fatty matter, 
Lactine, 
Saline matter, 
Water, 



4.1 
3.9 
5.2 

0.8 
86.0 

100.0 



One pint of milk of the above composition, reckoned at a sp. gr. of 
1030 which will give 9,012 grains as its weight, will contain the following 
amounts of the several solid constituents represented in grains and 
ounces: 

Solid Constituents in One Pint of Milk. 

Grains. Ozs. 

Nitrogenous matter, ..... 369 0.843 

Fattv matter, 351 0.802 

Lactine, 468 1.069 

Saline matter, ...... 72 0.164 



Total solid matter, . 



. 1,260 



.878 



The proportion of the several constituents of milk varies in different 
animals, and also under different circumstances in the same animal. 

First, as regards the composition of the milk of different animals. 
As it does not happen that a fixed or invariable composition exists, it is 
not surprising that the analyses of different authorities should be found 
to vary to some extent. They so far agree, however, as to give marked 
distinctive features to the milk of certain animals. The followinsr table 
is furnished by Pay en as affording a mean representation: 

Mean Composition of the Milk of Various Animals (Payen). 



Woman. 


Cow. 


Goat. 


Sheep. 


Ass. 


^fare. 


Nitrogenous matter and in- ) 
soluble salts, . . . . j" 

Butter, 

Lictine and solnble salts, . . 
Water, 


3.35 

3.34 

3.77 

89.54 


4.55 

3.70 

5.35 

86.40 


4.50 

4.10 

5.80 

85.60 


8.00 

6.50 

4.50 

82.00 


1.70 

1.40 

6.40 

90.50 


1.62 

0.20 

; 8.75 
89.33 




100.00 


100.00 


• 100.00 


100.00* 


100.00 


100.00* 



* The correct additions here do not quite correspond with the fignres given, a devi- 
ation to the extent of 1.0 existing in the one case and 0.1 in the other. The soluble 
salts, which in the above table are grouped with the lactine, are in Payen's table put 



118 A TREATISE ON" FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

The milk of the cow, according- to the above analysis, the most closely 
approximates to that of woman, but it is rather more highly charged with 
each kind of solid constituent. Next follows the milk of the goat, which, 
taken altogether, is again rather richer. That of the sheep is character- 
ized by its marked richness in nitrogenous matter and butter. The milk 
of the ass and mare presents a striking difference from the rest. The 
peculiarity consists of the small amounts of nitrogenous matter and but- 
ter, and the large amount of lactine or sugar. The milk of the mare 
forms the higher representative of this peculiarity of the two, and so 
large is the amount of sugar contained in it, that in Tartary it is fer- 
mented and converted into an extensively consumed spirituous liquor, 
which is known by the name of koumiss. Ass's milk is well known to 
form a most useful aliment for persons too delicate in health to bear cow's 
milk. Its prominent characters as an article of food are sweetness of taste 
and facility of digestion; and a glance at its composition suffices to ac- 
count for the possession of these qualities. It is said to have the objec- 
tion of being sometimes apt to occasion diarrhoea. 

I have selected and introduced Payen's analysis, but it must be stated 
that somewhat different results are furnished by other analysts, and par- 
ticularly as regards woman's milk, in which the proportion of sugar is 
given as considerably larger, and that of caseine smaller, thus bringing it 
in respect of these constituents closer to the milk of the ass. 

With reference to the caseine, it is stated that the coagulum or curd of 
woman's milk is " in general somewhat gelatinous, and not so dense or 
solid as that of cow's milk, and, therefore, more easily digested by the 
child's stomach " (Lehmann). 

The quality of milk further varies in different breeds of animals. The 
milk of the Alderney cow, for example, is well known for its great rich- 
ness in fat, and that of the breed of long-horns is reputed to contain a 
larger proportion of caseine than exists in the milk of other cows. It is 
also a popular belief that dark-complexioned women possess superior qual- 
ifications for nursing than fair-complexioned women, and this view is sup- 
ported by the results of a comparative analysis made by L'Heritier* of 
the milk of two nursing mothers, aged twenty years, one of whom was 
dark and the other fair, it having been found that the secretion of the 
brunette was richer in each of the organic constituents than that of the 
blonde. 

Besides these variations in the milk of individual animals, variations 
of a certain nature are noticeable in the milk of the same individual. 

The fluid which is first secreted after parturition, is in a very different 
condition from ordinary milk. It goes by the name of colostrtmi, and is 
of a somewhat viscid or stringy consistence, something like soap and 
water, wdth a turbid and yellowish appearance, and a strongly alkaline 
reaction. It contains more albumen than caseine, and hence undergoes 
coagulation on boiling. Examined microscopically, a number of large, ir- 
regular bodies are seen, which consist of conglomerations of small fat- 
globules held together by an amorphous, somewhat granular substance. 
These are called colostrum-corpuscles. The secretion of the cow remains 
in this state for several days — it may be for a month after calving. Pos- 

down at l.OG per cent, for woman's milk. This is obviously an error, and it may be 
concluded that 0.06 is meant. These figures have been taken above and bring the 
addition correct. 

* Traite de Chimie pathologique, p. 638. Paris, 1843. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 119 

sessing during this time a somewhat sickly odor and purgative properties, 
it must be regarded as in an unfit state for human food. 

A marked difference exists in the quality of the milk as regards the 
amount of cream which is obtained at the commencement and at the end 
of milking. It has been ascertained by direct observation, both on the 
Continent and in England, that the latter, especially when intervals of 
some duration are allowed to elapse between the periods of milking, con- 
tains more than double, and it may be as much as four times, the amount 
of cream in a given quantity of milk. This appears to be due to the fatty 
matter rising upward whilst the milk is contained within the gland, just 
as it is known to do after removal. In this way the last removed portion, 
consisting of that which occupied the highest position, will contain the 
largest amount of fatty matter, and may consist, in fact, of a species of 
thin cream. It is important that this should be known by those who ob- 
tain the measure of milk they require in a separate vessel direct from the 
cow. Of course, if a whole milking is received into one vessel, a uniform 
admixture will occur and an average quality be yielded. 

According to results obtained in a series of observations conducted 
by Dr. Hassall, it appears that the afternoon milk of the cow is richer 
both in cream and curd (butter and caseine) than the morning. 

Evidence is not wanting to show, as might be anticipated, that the 
quality of the milk is influenced by the nature of the food. Our knowl- 
edge is still imperfect regarding the precise effect exerted by different 
alimentary articles on the amount of the respective constituent principles 
of milk; but this much has been clearly ascertained, that an insufficient 
diet quickly leads to its impoverishment in solid material. It is nothing 
more than might be expected that, to maintain the milk in good condi- 
tion, a proper and sufficient diet must be supplied; and in the case of the 
cow, no food can be considered equal to that which is yielded by the 
fresh pasture of country fields, the plants of which give a richness, sweet- 
ness, and agreeable aroma, which cannot be supplied by any other mode 
of feeding. 

That milk is susceptible of being in a marked degree influenced by 
special ingesta, is a fact with which most people are acquainted, and many 
•familiar illustrations of it can be adduced. It is known, for instance, 
that the color may be modified by mixing saffron or madder with the 
food; the odor, by the consumption of plants belonging to the cabbage 
and onion tribes; and the taste, by the ingestion of a bitter article such 
as wormwood. Milk also is known to acquire poisonous properties from 
the nature of the herbasfe in certain localities, without the animals them- 
selves (cows, goats, etc.) being poisoned, just as has been previously men- 
tioned may happen in the case of meat. This is noticed to occur abroad, 
and especially in Malta and in some of the districts of North America. A 
further illustration of the influence exerted by food is afforded by the fact 
that the milk of meadow-fed cows, and likewise the cream which rises 
from it, is liable to acquire a marked unpleasant flavor in the ^utumn 
from the fallen and decayed leaves which may happen to be consumed by 
the animal. 

Suckling mothers have to practice self-denial in eating and drinking 
for the sake of the ease and comfort of their infants. Experience teaches 
them that by partaking of fruit and green vegetables, or anything of a 
sour or acid nature, their milk is apt to acquire griping and purging 
properties. 

The medical practitioner is likewise well aware that medicinal agents 



120 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



produce their effect upon the milk. Infants may be salivated, purged, 
and narcotized by mercury, drastic purgatives, and opiates respectively, 
administered to the mother. Sometimes, also, medicines are purposely 
given to influence the child through the medium of the milk, instead of 
being administered directly to the infantile patient. 

Lastly, it may be mentioned that violent exercise and certain mental 
states are known to communicate pernicious properties to the milk. An 
instance is quoted by Payen in w^hich the milk of a woman, the subject of 
nervous attacks, became, in less than two hours after each paroxysm, mu- 
cilaginous like the white of egg. 

Milk appears, also, sometimes to acquire specially deleterious proper- 
ties from a peculiar change taking place, attended with the development 
of a low form of vegetable growth. Dr. Parkes observes that " Profes- 
sor Mosler has directed attention to the poisonous effects of ' blue milk,' 
that is to say, milk covered with a layer of blue substance, which is, in 
fact, a fungus, either the Didium lactis or Penicilliura^ which seems to 
have the power, under certain conditions, of causing the appearance in 
the milk of an aniline-like substance. The existence of this form of fun- 
gus was noted by Fuchs as long ago as 1861. Milk of this kind gives rise 
to gastric irritation (first noted by Steinhof); and, in four cases noted by 
Mosler, it produced severe febrile gastritis. 

" Milk which is not blue, but which contains large quantities of Didi- 
um^ appears from Hessling's observations to produce many dyspeptic 
symptoms, and even cholera-like attacks, as well as possibly to give rise 
to some aphthous affections of the mouth in children." * 

In a foot-note, it is stated that " blue milk is given by feeding cows 
with some vegetable substances, as Myosotis palustris, Polygonimi avic- 
rdare and Fagopyrum, Mercurialis perennis, and other plants (Mosler), 
but this is different from the blue color referred to above." f 

There are certain derivatives from and modifications of milk, viz., 
cream, skimmed milk, buttermilk, curds, whey, condensed milk, butter, 
and cheese, which will now receive consideration. 

Cream. — Cream consists mainly of the fatty matter of milk, which, 
by virtue of its lightness, rises to the surface, the milk being allowed to 
repose for some time for the purpose. It contains some of the watery 
liquid part of the milk which holds in solution the other constituents. 
The composition of cream will necessarily vary a great deal according to 
its purity, or the manner in which its collection by skimming is effected. 
The following is the composition given in Dr. Letheby's table: 



Composition of Cream. 




Nitrogenous matter, ..... 

Fatty matter, ...... 

Lactine, ....... 

Saline matter, ...... 

Water, ....... 


. 2.7 
. 26.7 
. 2.8 
. 1.8 
. 66.0 




100.0 



* Practical Hygiene, third edition, p. 239. 

f Although not strictly falling within the scope of this work, it may here be men- 
tioned that some recent outbreaks of typhoid fever have been very distinctly traced 
to the milk consumed. It does not appear that the milk has originally possessed nox- 
ious properties, but has acquired them by admixture with polluted water before dis- 
tribution to the consumer. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



121 



In the six analyses made by Mr. Wanklyn, and introduced into his 
work on " Milk Analysis," the amount of fat varied from 14.1 to 13.90 
per cent. 

Devonshire, or clotted cream, differs from ordinary cream in being of a 
solid consistence. The difference is produced by its being collected from 
milk which has been previously heated just to the point of simmering. A 
scum forms, and is associated with the fatty matter that subsequently 
rises. 

Skimmed milk. — Skimmed milk is the residue of milk from which 
cream has been collected. It is simply milk deprived of a certain amount 
of its fatty constituent. Being less rich than ordinary milk, it sometimes 
forms a useful aliment for a weak stomach. 



Compositioii of Skimmed Milk, 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Fatty matter, 
Lactine, 
Saline matter, 
Water, 



4.0 
1.8 
5.4 

0.8 
88.0 

100.0 



Suttermilk. — When butter is prepared directly from milk, a thin 
residuary liquid is yielded, which is known by the name of buttermilk. 
It contains a less amount of fatty matter than skimmed milk. Mixed 
with other food it is by no means an insignificant article of nourishment, 
containing, as it does, the nitrogenous matter, sugar, saline matter, and a 
small portion of the fatty matter of the milk. It is extensively used by 
the peasantry in some localities, and when not so employed is turned to 
account for f eedino: swine. 



Composition of Buttermilk, 



Nitrogenous matter. 
Fatty matter, 
Lactine, 
Saline matter, 
Water, 



4.1 

0.7 

6.4 

0.8 

88.0 

100.00 



Curd. — The essential basis of curd is caseine; but, as this principle 
undergoes coagulation during the transformation of milk into curds and 
whey, it entangles and carries with it the suspended milk-globules. Curd, 
therefore, consists of the nitrogenous portion of milk mixed with the 
chief part of its fatty element. It constitutes the basis of cheese. 

WTiey. — This forms the opalescent liquid left from the separation of 
the curd; it contains the lactine and salts of the milk, and likewise re- 
tains a little caseine and fatty matter. It is of some value, but not much, 
in an alimentary point of view. It is frequently, however, used to ad- 
vantage in the sick room as a drink in febrile and inflammatory diseases, 
and possesses sudorific and diuretic properties. It is prepared by the 
addition of various agents to milk, and is designated according to the 



122 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

agent employed, as, for instance, rennet whey, white-wine whey, creaml 
of tartar whey, tamarind whey, alum whey, etc. 

Condensed milk. — Milk is now to be obtained ift a condensed and pre- 
served state. It is sold in hermetically sealed tins, and thus circumstanced 
may be kept ready for use, whenever required, for years. It is found in a 
syrupy or semi-liquid state, miscible with water, and will remain good for 
some days after the tin is opened. The process of preservation, it appears, 
was first successfully carried out in America, and there the " plain con- 
densed milk," or milk simply reduced from four volumes to one, and sub- 
jected to a process of superheating, is sold as well as condensed milk 
to which cane-sugar has been added to assist in its preservation. In 
England there are three kinds of condensed milk supplied to the pub- 
lic — that of the Anglo-Swiss Company, which is prepared at Cham, in 
Switzerland (London office, 38 Leadenhall street); that of the Aylesbury 
Company, which is prepared at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (London 
office, 96 Leadenhall street); and that of Messrs. Crosse & Blackwell. 
Each contains, according to a report in Food, Water, and Air for Octo- 
ber, 1872, genuine condensed milk in a perfect state of preservation, 
with the addition only of cane-sugar. * The following are the results 
furnished in the " Report " alluded to of the respective analyses of the 
three; 

Condensed Milk. 

Aylesbur,. ^f-.-f^ 

17.20 16.30 

1L30 9.50 

12.00 17.54 

29.59 27.06 

2.24 2.39 

.67 .708 

27.00 26.50 





Anglo- Swiss 


Caseine, 


. 18.52 


Fattv matter, 


. 10.80 


Sugar of milk, 


. 16.50 


Cane-sugar, . 


. 27.11 


Ash, . 


. 2.12 


Phosphoric acid, . 


649 


Water, . 


. 24.30 



100.000 100.00 100.000 

LipJbig' s food for infants. — This constitutes a food, devised upon chem- 
ical principles, to form an appropriate substitute for woman's milk. The 
name of the originator has been sufficient to carry it into extensive use in 
Germany, and it has also been made widely known in England. It is 
composed of malt-flour, wheat-flour, cow's milk, bicarbonate of potash, 
and water, in such proportions as to give a representation of woman's 
milk as regards the relation of nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous princi- 
ples. The following is described as the easiest and most simple way of 
making the food: 

Take half an ounce of wheat-flour, half an ounce of malt-flour, and 

* Amongst the correspondence contained in the Lancet for November 2 and 9, 
1872, some remarks are to be found regarding the employment of condensed milk as an 
article of food for infants brought up by baud. Whilst it is admitted that infants take 
it readily on account of its sweetness, grow plump, and appear to thrive remarkably 
well upon it, it is alleged that the appearance, which depends simply upon an accumula- 
tion of fat, is delusive, and that they in reality possess so little power that they become 
prostrated by diarrhoea and other affections, and rapidl}' sink iu a manner that is not 
observed under other modes of feeding. The evidence at present adduced can only 
be looked upon as suggestive, but the matter is an important one, and worthy the con- 
sideration of those whose field of observation affords them an opportunity of obtaining 
and furnishing trustworthy information on the point. 



ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES. 123 

seven and a quarter grains of crystallized bicarbonate of potash, and after 
well mixing them add one ounce of water, and lastly five ounces of cow's 
milk. Warm the mixture, continually stirring, over a very slow fire till 
it becomes thick. Then remove the vessel from the fire, stir again for 
five minutes, put it back on the fire, take it off as soon as it gets thick, 
and, finally, let it boil well. It is necessary that the food should form a 
thin and sweet liquid previous to its final boiling. Before use it requires 
to be strained through a muslin- or fine hair-sieve, to separate fragments 
of husks that may be present. 

To avoid the trouble of weig-hino-, it is mentioned that as much wheat 
flour as will lie on a table-spoon corresponds with an ounce, and that a 
moderate table-spoon of malt-flour corresponds with half an ounce. 

It is malt made from barley that is to be used, and a common coflee-mill 
answers the purpose of grinding it into flour, which is to be cleaned from 
the husk by a coarse sieve. 

The bicarbonate of potash is added to neutralize the acid reaction of 
the two kinds of flour, and also to raise the amount of alkali in the food 
to the equivalent of that in woman's milk. 

The ferment contained in the malt leads, during the exposure to the 
warmth employed in the process of preparation, to the conversion of the 
starch of both the flours into dextrine and sugar, the latter of which gives 
the sweet taste that is acquired. The newly formed products, also, being 
soluble, accounts for the mixture being thin, and it is a point contended 
for by Liebig, that principles in this state tax the digestive and assimila- 
tive powers of the infant much less than starch. 

Estimation of the Quality of Milk. — The quality of milk may 
be judged of by its specific gravity and the amount of cream contained in 
it. No special skill is required for the determination of these points, and 
hence the examination may be conducted by any one possessing an ordi- 
nary amount of intelligence. The results given, if placed together, will 
enable a pretty accurate conclusion to be drawn, but should something 
more precise than this be required, recourse must be had to chemical 
analysis, which can only be performed by skilled hands. 

Specific gravity. — The specific gravity is ascertained by weighing, or 
more readily by means of an instrument known as the hydrometer, which 
when applied to the examination of railk falls under the name of lactom- 
eter. The ordinary sp. gr. of good genuine cow's milk may be said to 
be about 1030 at 60° Fahr. It varies, however, within a range usually 
of two or three degree over and about four degrees under, and is more 
frequently under than over. 

The addition of water lowers the sp. gr., and thus is afforded one 
means of detecting this adulteration. An excess of cream also lowers 
the sp. gr., on account of the lightness of the fatty matter, so that cau- 
tion is necessary in dealing with the evidence afforded by the sp. gr. In 
a sample of milk examined by Dr. Hassall, containing 26 per cent, of 
cream (the usual quantity is from 5 to 10 per cent.), the sp. gr. was found 
to be 1019, and in another, containing 80 per cent., as low even as 1008; 
and that this was due to the cream, was proved by the fact that the same 
samples, when skimmed, showed a sp. gr. of 1027 and 1026 respectively. 
These form extreme and exceptional cases, but it often occurs that milk 
which is only fairly rich in cream will show a sp. gr. of 1026 or 1027 be- 
fore being skimmed, and 1030 or 1031 afterward. It is better, therefore, 
to get rid of this modifying element, and to submit the milk, after being 



124 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



skimmed, to examination, and if there be then a lower sp, gr. than about 
1027 or 1028, it may be fairly surmised that water has been added. 

Dr. Hassall even recommends that the influence of all the fatty mat- 
ter, and the caseine as well, should be eliminated, and that the whey 
should form the liquid submitted to examination, a few drops of acetic 
acid being used to effect the separation. He gives the result of the ex- 
amination of the whey derived from forty-two samples of genuine milk, 
and, whilst considerable variation was noticeable in the sp. gr, of the 
milk itself, only a slight variation was observed in that of the whey, the 
limits of the range being 1025 and 1028. 



Effect Produced on the Sp. Gr. of Milk hy Dilution with Water (Hassall). 



Pure milk, ....... 

Milk diluted with about 15 per cent, of water, . 
" " 20 " " 

" " 35 " " 

" ** 45 '* *' 

Skimmed milk, ...... 

Skimmed milk diluted with 10 per cent, of water, 

a u 20 " '* . 

" " 30 " " . 

U ii ^Q tC (I 

tC C( gQ « U 

Whey, 

Whey diluted with 10 per cent, of water, 

" " 20 " " 

" " 30 " " 

t( (( 4Q (( a 

« " 50 " " 



Sp. gr. 
1030 
1026 
1023 
1018 
1015 
103] 
1027 
1025 
1021 
1019 
1016 
1029 
1025 
1022 
1020 
1017 
lOM 



In an examination conducted in my own laboratory, the following are 
the specific gravities that were given by admixtures of definite propor- 
tions of milk of a sp. gr. of 1030 and water: 



Milk. Water. 
100 + 

95 -h 5 



90 
85 

80 
75 
70 
65 
60 
55 
50 
40 



H- 10 
+ 15 
-f 20 
H- 25 
+ 30 
+ 35 
+ 40 
+ 45 
+ 50 
+ 60 



Sp. gr. of specimen. 


Sp. gr. of the whey 


. 1030 


1027.4 


. 1027.5 


1025.8 


. 1026 


1024 


. 1024 


1022.5 


. 1022.4 


1020.6 


. 1021.4 


1019 


. 1019.6 


1017.8 


. 1018.4 


1016 


. 1017 


1014.6 


. 1015.2 


1013.3 


. 1014 


1012 


. 1011 


1009 



For estimating the amount of cream, the appliances known as the 
creamometer and the lactoscope have been devised. 

The creamometer, or, as it is often badly named, lactometer, consists of 



ALIMENT AEY SUBSTANCES. 125 

a Ions: srlass tube or vessel gTaduated into 100 measures. The vessel is 
filled to 0° at the top of the graduated scale and placed aside for the 
cream to rise. The thickness of the layer can then be read off in per- 
centages. The amount of cream varies considerably in different samples 
of genuine milk, and no precise limits can be given. It may be said, 
however, that if found below 5 per cent., a suspicion of adulteration with 
water may be reasonably entertained. The average appears to be about 
8 or 9 per cent., but it may amount to and even considerably exceed 20 
per cent. 

A popular notion is entertained that the addition of a small quantity 
of warm water to milk increases the amount of cream yielded. The no- 
tion, however, has been shown by observation to be entirely erroneous. 
It evidently arose from the circumstance that the addition of water, by 
diminishing the sp. gr. of the milk, facilitates and expedites the ascent, 
but ultimately the product is even less. 

JjCictoscope. — A more scientific and precise way of estimating the 
amount of fat in milk is by the use of an instrument called the lactoscope 
This measures the degree of opacity of the liquid, and, as the opacity of 
milk is due to the fatty matter, it affords an indication of the amount 
that is present. The lactoscope of Donne, the original inventor of the 
instrument, consisted of an arrano-ement for increasino- or diminishino^ 
the thickness of the layer of milk placed between two glass plates j and 
according to the thickness required to obscure the light of a candle, 
looked at through the apparatus, a measure was furnished of the amount 
of fat, which could be read off from an index adjusted for the purpose. 

The lactoscope of Donne has been improved upon by Vogel, whose 
very simple contrivance affords an easy and speedy means for closely de- 
termining the amount of fatt}'' matter suspended in any given specimen, 
of milk. The apparatus consists of a half-moon-shaped trough, with two 
parallel sides formed of flat glass plates, one-fifth of an inch distant from 
each other; a glass cylinder on a foot and with a spout, graduated to 100 
c.c. ; and a small pipette, graduated in cubic centimetres divided into 
halves. In conducting the examination the measure is filled to 100 c.c, 
with water, and then a few cubic centimetres, say 3, of milk are dropped in 
from the graduated pipette. The mixture is well shaken, and the trough 
afterward filled with it. A candle is placed about three feet from the 
trough, and the flame looked at through the diluted milk, the back of 
the observer being directed toward the window of the room. If the can- 
dle-flame is clearly seen, the mixture is to be returned to the measure, 
and more milk added to it from the pipette, and then to be tried again 
in the trough. This is to be repeated, adding each time either one or 
half a c.c, until the candle-flame becomes obscured. From the quantity 
of milk required to be added to the 100 c.c, of water to produce this ef- 
fect, the amount of fatty matter can be calculated, the following formula 
having been found, by comparing the results obtained with those yielded 
by chemical analysis, to give the information required. Let 23.2 be di- 
vided by the number of cubic centimetres of milk employed, and 0.23 be 
added, and the product will give the percentage amount of fat. Sup- 
pose, for instance, 6 c.c, of milk to have been required, then the fat will 
amount to 4.09 per cent. Thus: 

23.2 

+0.23=409 

6 



126 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



The following table gives the results worked out, and will enable the 
percentage of fat to be at once read off: — 



C.C. of milk 


Percentage of fat 


C.C. of milk 


Percentag-e of fat 


employed. 


in the milk. 


employed. 


in the milk. 


1 


. 23.43 


14 . 


. 1.88 


1.5 . 


. 15.46 


15 . 


, 1.78 


2 . 


. 11.83 


16 . 


. 1.68 


2.5 . 


. 9.51 


17 . 


. 1.60 


3 . 


. 7.96 


18 . 


. 1.52 


3.5 . . 


. 6.86 


19 . 


. 1.45 


4 . 


. 6.03 


20 . 


. 1.39 


4.5 . 


. 5.38 


22 . 


. 1.28 


5 . 


. 4.87 


24 . 


. 1.19 


5.5 . 


. 4.45 


26 . 


. 1.12 


6 . 


. 4.09 


28 . 


. 1.06 


6.5 . 


. 3.80 


30 . 


. 1.00 


•7 

t > . < 


. 3.54 


35 . 


. 0.89 


7.5 . 


. 3.32 


40 . 


. 0.81 


8 . . . 


. 3.13 


45 . 


. 0.74 


8.5 . 


. 2 96 


50 . 


. 0.69 


9 , . . 


. 2.80 


55 . 


. 0.65 


9.5 . 


. 2.77 


60 . 


. 0.61 


10 . . . 


. 2.55 


70 \ 


. 0.56 


11 . 


. 2.43 


80 . . . 


. 0.52 


12 . . . 


. 2.16 


90 . 


. 0.48 


13 , . . 


. 2.01 


100 . 


. 0.46 



Butter. — Butter is the fatty portion of milk, and is obtained by the 
process of churning, either cream or the milk itself being subjected to 
the operation. The effect of churning is to cause the milk-globules to 
run together or coalesce, and thus to become incorporated into a solid 
mass. This is supposed to be brought about by the mechanical rupture, 
in the first place, of the envelopes of the globules, the contents of which 
are then permitted to become agglomerated; and, it is found by ex- 
perience that the process is facilitated by being conducted at a tempera- 
ture of about 60° Fahr. When the butter is formed, it is removed from 
the churn and well kneaded and washed with water, to remove as much 
as possible of adhering caseine and other ingredients of the milk; and the 
more completely this is effected the better will the butter afterward 
keep. More or less salt is added to promote still further its power of 
keeping, and the quantity is regulated according as the butter is to be 
eaten fresh or to be preserved for future consumption. 

The pure fatty matter of butter is composed of a mixture of several 
fatty principles. Six have been enumerated by Chevreul, viz.: Marga- 
rine (palmitine), oleine (butyroleine), capryline, butyrine, caprine, caproine 
(capronine). 

These are neutral fats, and are resolvable into glycerine and margaric 
(palmitic), oleic, caprylic, butyric, capric, and caproic acids respectively: 
the first two acids being of a fixed, and the last four of a volatile nature. 
It is to the latter ag-ents that the characteristic taste and smell of butter are 
due, although they are present only in small amount. According to 
Bromeis, 98 per cent, of butter (the pure fat) is composed of margarine 
(palmitine) and oleine (68 per cent, of the former and 30 per cent of 
the latter), and the remainder of the volatile fatty acid compounds. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 12? 

Such is the composition of the pure fatty matter of butter. Butter, 
however, as it is obtained and furnished for consumption, contains a cer- 
tain quantity of other matter, but the fat ought to amount to from 86 to 
92 per cent. Caseine is present to the extent o£ from 3 to 5 per cent, 
only in good specimens. In a bad sample there may be considerably 
more. Some of the watery portion of the milk is retained, and with it 
the constituents that are held in solution. The water should not amount 
to more than from about 5 to 10 per cent., but it is sometimes found 
in considerably larger quantity. The practice of beating up the butter 
with water before being put into the scales forms a process which 
tells in favor of the retail dealer. A description of butter known as 
*' Bosh " has been found to contain a proportion of water amounting 
in some cases to more than a third of the article (Hassall). Salt is pres- 
ent as an admixture in all butters. In fresh butter the average amount 
ranges from 0.5 to 2 per cent. In salt butter the quantity should not 
exceed 8 per cent. 

Butter may be separated from the above-mentioned adventitious in- 
gredients by applying heat so as to melt it. The fatty matter rises in a 
pure state to the surface, leaving a watery liquid containing the other 
principles present below. Its flavor, however, is much deteriorated by 
the process, for the agreeable taste belonging to fresh butter is in great 
part due to the natural accessory matter present. It is true butter has a 
peculiar odor and flavor which are given to it by its volatile fatty acid 
compounds, and these will be retained in the melted article; but there are, 
besides, sapid qualities belonging to fresh butter which are due to other 
ingredients derived from the milk which yielded it. It is well known that 
the taste of butter is much influenced by the nature of the food upon 
which the cow is kept, and that a delicate and agreeable aroma is given 
by some pastures which is not afforded by others. A decidedly unpleas- 
ant flavor (which, as previously mentioned, may be likewise perceptible in 
the milk and cream) is also sometimes noticeable in the butter made in the 
autumn, and at other times of the year, arising from the fallen and de- 
cayed leaves which the cow may happen to have consumed with its 
food. 

Fresh butter, especially in hot weather, is very prone to undergo 
change, and in the course of a short time to become rancid. This arises 
from the nitrogenous matter of the milk with which the butter is impreg- 
nated actino- as a ferment and leadino^ to the liberation of the fattv acids. 
The more completely butter is deprived of this adventitious matter by 
washing, the better is it found afterward to keep; and, if it be completely 
deprived of it by melting and agitation with boiling water it will bear 
preservation for a considerable period, but the process involves a loss of 
the aCT-reeable flavor which belono;s to the article in the fresh state. When 
butter has become rancid it may also be rendered again eatable by melt- 
ing it and shaking it repeatedly with boiling water for the purpose of re- 
moving the free fatty acids; and, if the melted butter be then poured into 
ice-cold water, it is stated to assume the appearance of fresh butter. The 
addition of salt to butter checks the decomposition of the caseine that 
may be present, and thence, also, the change of the butter itself. It is 
upon this principle that salt is used as a preservative agent, and sugar en- 
joys a similar capacity. Butter laid in syrup is said to keep even better 
than salted butter. Exclusion from air affords another means of preserv- 
ing butter, and simply covering it with water renewed every day will 
sufiice to keep it good for a week and upward. Instead of water a weak 



128 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

solution of tartaric acid has been recommended by Breon, and, according 
to Payen, is far more efficacious. Payen states that some butter upon 
which the process was tried with a view of testing its efficacy was found 
to have retained its freshness at the end of two months under the existence 
of a temperature of from 60° to 68° Fahr. 

Butter is a form of fatty matter less likely than most others to 
disagree with the stomach. This applies to butter in a perfectly fresh or 
unchanged state; when rancid or when the fatty acids have been liber- 
ated by exposure to heat, like all fatty matter in a similar state, it is very 
apt to occasion gastric derangement. 

Cheese. — Cheese consists of the caseine of milk with a varying admix- 
ture of butter, according to the manner in which it has been prepared. 
The caseine is coagulated usually by the employment of rennet (an arti- 
cle obtained from the fourth or digesting stomach of the calf), but some- 
times by the agency of an acid. In being precipitated the caseine entan- 
gles and carries with it the suspended fat-globules (butter) of the milk. 
After coagulation has been effected the curd is collected and subjected to 
pressure in a mold, of the future form of the cheese, to deprive it as far as 
possible of the liquid portion of the milk, or whey. It is kept in the 
mould until it has acquired sufficient consistence to hold together, and 
is then removed and exposed on shelves in a cool and airy situation. 
Here it is kept for a considerable time for the process of ripening to 
occur. Salt is applied to the surface, and frequent turning has to be 
performed. Changes occur attended with the development of various 
volatile fatty acids, and the cheese passes from a comparatively odorless 
and insipid state to the condition well known to belong to the ripened 
article. The larger the quantity of fatty matter, or butter, present, the 
larger is the capacity for the production of the volatile fatty acids, and 
the more strongly marked do the odor and flavor become. The caseine, 
however, appears also to undergo change, and to contribute to the pro- 
duction of these characters. If circumstances exist which permit the 
change still further to proceed, an advance to ordinary putrefaction oc- 
curs, accompanied with the evolution of ammonia. In this pronounced 
state of decay the taste and smell may be such as to be actually offensive, 
and the article may acquire a highly irritating, and even, as experience 
has shown, poisonous properties. 

Various qualities of cheese are met with, and they are generally 
known in commerce by the names of the localities producing them. The 
quality depends upon the amount of fatty matter present in the milk from 
which the cheese is made. In the richest cheeses, as Stilton and double 
Gloucester, cream is added to the milk. Cheshire cheese is made from 
unskimmed milk; single Gloucester, Chester, and American, from milk 
with a little cream removed; and Dutch, Pa.rmesan, Suffolk, and Somerset- 
shire, from skimmed milk. Cream cheese consists of the fresh curd which 
has been moderately pressed. It is eaten without being allowed to 
ripen. 

Fatty matter gives softness and richness to the cheese, but, at the 
same time, renders it more prone to change and decay on keeping. It is 
the poor and close cheese, such as is made from skimmed milk, as the 
Dutch, Parmesan, etc., which is found to keep the best. Parmesan, par- 
ticularly, is characterized by its power of keeping; and after having been 
kept for some time it becomes of a hard and somewhat horny consistence, 
and requires grating to place it in a suitable condition for consumption. 



ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES. 



129 



Composition of Cheese (from Parkes *). 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Fatty matter, 
Saline matter, . 
Water, 



33.5 
24.3 

5.4 

36.8 



100.0 



Composition of Cheddar Cheese (from Letheby) 

Nitrogenous matter, ...... 

Fatty matter, ....... 

Saline matter, ....... 

Water, 



28.4: 

31.1 

4.5 

36.0 



100.0 



Composition of Shim Cheese (from Letheby). 

Nitrogenous matter. ....... 

Fatty matter, ........ 

Saline matter, ........ 

Water, 



44.8 

6.a 

4.9 
44.0 

100.0 



Composition of Various Kinds of Cheese (Payen f ). 



Nitrogenous matter, . . . . 

Fatty matter, 

Saline matter, 

Non-nitrogenous matter and loss, 
Water, 



Koquefort. 



26.52 

30.14 

5.07 

3.72 

34.55 



100.00 



Gmyere. : Dutch. 



31.5 

24.0 

3.0 

1.5 

40.0 

100.00 



29.43 
27.54 

6.93 
36.10 

100.00 



Neufchatel 
(fresh). 



8.00 

40.71 

0.51 

15.80 
36.58 



100. 00 J 



Netifchatel 
(matured). 



13.03 

41.91 

3.63 

6.96 

34.47 



100.00 





Camembert. 


Brie. 


Chester. 


Parmesan. 


Nitrogenous matter, .... 

Fatty matter, 

SaUne matter, 

Non-nitrogenous matter and loss, 
Water, 


18.90 

21.05 

4.71 

4.40 

51.94 


18.48 

25.73 
5.61 
4.93 

45.25 


25.99 

26.34 

4.16 

7.59 

35.92 


44.08 

15.95 

5.72 

6.69 

27.56 


- 


100.00^ 


100.00 


100.00 


100.00 



* Practical Hygiene, 3d ed., p. 165. 
f Substances Alimentaires, p. 197 et seg. Paris, 
X Total according to the figures given, 101.60. 
§ Total according to the figures given, 101.00. 



18Go. 



130 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

On account of its richness in nitrogenous matter cheese constitutes 
an article of considerable dietetic value. Amongst the poorer inhabitants 
of rural districts it enters as an important aliment into the daily diet, 
serving to supply the nitrogen which is deficient in the bread or other 
kind of vegetable food which is employed as the staple article of sub- 
sistence. By the less indigent classes, where the meat consumed suffices 
to supply the nitrogen required, cheese is rather employed as a condi- 
ment, or relish, than as a direct article of nourishment, and for this pur- 
pose it is the more tasty kind of cheese that is selected, of which only a 
small quantity is eaten, and this at the end of the repast. 

The digestibility of cheese varies much according to its nature. The 
poorer and closer kinds of cheese, those which contain the largest propor- 
tion of caseine, require strong digestive power for their solution. The 
softer, stronger-tasted, and more friable kind of cheese, however, is by 
no means similarly difficult of digestion, and it may, indeed, taken in 
small quantity, aid the digestion of other food by its stimulant action on 
the stomach. Toasted cheese, no matter of what kind, for in all the con- 
sistence becomes close by toasting — is one of the most indigestible articles 
that can be eaten. 

Cheese, especially the richer kinds, is very liable to form the seat of 
growth of certain animal and vegetable organisms. The larvae, or mag- 
gots, of a fly {Piophila ccisei), constituting what are known as hoppers or 
jumpers, flourish upon it. Another animal frequently met with is the 
cheese mite or Acarus domesticits. It exists in great numbers, and is so 
small that its form is only distinctly to be perceiv^ed by the microscope. 
The mould of cheese is composed of minute vegetable organisms belong- 
ing to the tribe of fungi, blue mould being formed by the Aspergillus 
glaiicus, and red mould by the Sporendonenia casei. 

Cheese is also liable, as has been mentioned to occur likewise with 
meat, to undergo a modified form of decay, attended with the develop- 
ment of poisonous properties. Instances of cheese-poisoning have been 
chiefly observed in Germany, but some cases have also been recorded as 
having been met with in Cheshire. The symptoms produced have very 
much resembled those arising from sausage-poisoning, viz., gastro-intes- 
tinal irritation with great depression, and have shown themselves within 
half an hour or a few hours after the cheese has been eaten. According 
to Westrumb, poisonous cheese presents no peculiarity in its appearance, 
taste, or smell; but Hiinefeld says that it is yellowish and tough, with 
harder and darker lumps interspersed, and that it has a disagreeable 
taste, reddens litmus, and becomes flesh-red instead of yellow under the 
action of nitric acid.* 



ANIMAL FOODS SOMETIMES BUT NOT ORDINARILY EATEN. 

The information contained in the following pages has been gathered 
from numerous sources, chiefly works on travels, and placed together in a 
collected and systematic form. It shows that an almost endless variety 
of animals are eaten in different parts of the globe, and supplies what I 
have been able to learn has been said regarding their edible qualities. In 
the case of some of them, their consumption occurs upon a sufficiently ex- 
tensive scale to give them a position of considerable importance in an 



* Christison on Poisons, 4th edition, p. 642. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 131 

alimentary point of view. In that of others, however, the fact of their 
consumption cannot be looked upon as anything beyond a point of curi- 
osity in dietetics. The statements furnished are authenticated by refer- 
ence to the works from which they have been taken; but instead of 
introducing and repeating the names of the works amongst the text, num- 
bers are employed and a key to them supplied at the end of the section, 
vide pp. 142, 143. Where the page and volume of a work are given, 
these are placed after the reference number within a parenthesis. 

Cannibalism. — There is reason to believe the practice of eating human 
flesh has not at all times been confined to the lowest savages, but it is 
difficult to obtain much satisfactory information respecting it. 

There is little doubt that our ancestors, the ancient inhabitants of 
Britain, were guilty of eating human flesh, and St. Jerome specially 
charges the Attacotti, a people of ancient Scotland, with preferring the 
shepherd to his flock ^^ (vol. i., p. 688). 

There have been numerous instances of cannibalism among people suf- 
fering from starvation in sieges and from shipwreck, and the evidence is 
tolerably strong that some men belonging to civilized races, living in wild 
places, have occasionally decoyed persons to their dens and eaten them. 
Andrew Wyntoun, in his rhyming chronicle, charges a man who lived 
early in the fourteenth century with this crime *" (vol. ii., p. 236). 

Lindsay, of Pitscottie, also relates that a man and his wife and family 
were all burnt on the east coast of Scotland for the crime of eating- chil- 
dren that they had stolen away ^^ (p. 163). During the horrors of the great 
French Revolution, the heart of the Princess Lamballe was plucked out of 
her body by one of the mob, taken by him to a restaurant, and there 
cooked and eaten ^' (vol. ii., p. 564). 

Statements are given, to the effect that there is something attractive 
in the taste of human flesh to those who have been addicted to the revolt- 
ing practice of cannibalism. 

In the account mentioned by Lindsay that has been just referred to, it 
is stated that one of the daughters of the man, when going to the place 
of execution, cried out, '' Wherefore chide ye with me, as if I had com- 
mitted ane unworthy act ? Give me credence and trow me, if ye had ex- 
perience of eating men and women's flesh ye wold think it so delicious 
that ye wold never forbear it again " " (vol. i., p. 688). 

In the present day the Polynesian islands are the chief home of such 
cannibalism as still exists in the world. The Tannese say to any one con- 
demning their anthropophagous habits — " Pig's flesh is very good for you, 
but this is the thing for us." They distribute human flesh in little bits 
far and near among their friends as delicate morsels. Cannibal connois- 
seurs, it is asserted, prefer a black man to a white one, as the latter, they 
say, tastes salt ^" (p. 83). 

Monkeys are eaten by the Chinese,^ the natives of Ceylon,^ the In- 
dians, the negroes and whites in Trinidad,^ the Dyaks of Borneo,^ the 
Africans of the Gold Coast,^ the aborigines of the Amazon ^ (p. 485), and 
the Indians of Spanish Guiana.* The flesh is said to be palatable.* 

The Kalong^ or edible roussette (a species of bat), is abundant in Java, 
and valued as food by the natives. The flesh is white, delicate, and ten- 
der, but generally imbued with a smell of musk.* 



For the names of the works which the reference numbers in the above pages repre- 
sent, vide the key supplied at pp. 142, 143. 



132 " A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

The Lion is sometimes eaten in Africa, but its flesh is not ffood^ ("p. 
304). ^ 

The Canadian Lynx is eaten by the Indians, and its flesh is said to be 
white, tender, and to resemble that of the American hare/ 

Wolves are forbidden among the African Arabs, but are not un- 
frequently eaten by sick persons from the belief that their flesh is medi- 
cinal ' (p. 51). The mountaineers of the American Sahara eat the small 
prairie wolf {canis latrans) ® (p. 80). 

The Hudson's Bay Skunk is eaten by the Indians, who esteem its 
flesh a great dainty.^ 

The Otter is eaten by Laplanders and Esquimaux, but its flesh has a 
fishy taste." 

Cats are eaten by the Chinese ' (vol. iii., p. 761), and in the Island of 
Savu are preferred to sheep and goats ^ (vol. iii., p. 688). Five thousand 
cats are said to have been eaten in Paris during the late siege ^^ (p. 299). 
According to the same authority, the cat is downright good eating. A 
young one, well cooked, is better than hare or rabbit. It tastes something 
like the American gray squirrel, but is even tenderer and sweeter '' 
(p. 319). 

Although cats, like wolves and dogs, are forbidden among the African 
Arabs, they are not unfrequently eaten by sick persons from the belief 
that their flesh is medicinal ' (p. 52). 

Logs are eaten by the Chinese,^ * " the New Zealanders " (vol. ii., p. 
17), the South Sea Islanders,® and some African tribes.® One thousand 
two hundred dogs, it is stated, were eaten in Paris during the late siege,"* 
and the flesh fetched from two to three francs per pound ^* (February 11, 
1871). 

According to Pliny, puppies were regarded as a great delicacy by the 
Roman gourmands. Young dogs, like cats, are not to be eaten by the 
African Arabs, but they are not unfrequently given to sick persons from 
the belief that their flesh is medicinal.' 

Wild dogs are eaten by the natives of Australia ^"^ (vol. ii., p. 250), but 
in New Zealand " and the South Sea Islands ® (vol. ii, p. 196) the dogs are 
specially fed and fattened, and European dogs are considered unpalat- 
able." Captain Cook looked upon a South Sea dog as little inferior to 
an English lamb ® (vol. ii., p. 196). Fattened dog's flesh is a favorite food 
of the Warori, an African tribe ^^ (vol. ii., p. 273). 

The JBear supplies food to several nations of Europe, and its hams are 
considered excellent.^ The flesh of the brown or black bear, which is eaten 
by the common people of Norway, Russia, and Poland, is difiicult of diges- 
tion, and is generally salted and dried before it is used.^° Two bears 
were eaten in Paris during the siege,*" and the flesh was supposed to taste 
like pig ** (February 1, 1871). The Indian tribes of the interior of Oregon 
eat bears *^ (vol. iv., p. 452). The Polar bear is stated by Sir John Ross to 
be particularly unwholesome, although the Esquimaux fed upon it, and 
apparently without inconvenience.^ 

Tho Hedgehog is considered a princely dish in Barbary, and is eaten 
in Spain ^ and Germany.^" It is frequently eaten by the sick among the 
African Arabs from the belief that its flesh is medicinal ' (p. 62). 

I{^angaroos are eaten by the aborigines of Australia '^ (vol. ii., p. 250) '* 
(p. 67), and their flesh is considered excellent.^ Soup made from the tail 
is reputed to be far superior to ox-tail soup.* It is imported into Eiig- 



For the names of the works which the reference numbeirs 



ALIMEI^rTAIlY SUBSTANCES. 133 

land with the Australian meat in sealed tins. Three kangaroos were 
eaten in Paris during the siege." The Wo77ibat is eaten by the natives of 
Australia/" and its flesh is said to be preferable to that of all other animals 
of Australia/ Wallabies are eaten by the natives of Australia.^ 

The Opossum is eaten in America," Australia/^ ^'^ ^ and the Indian 
islands. Young ones are reared for the table, and the flesh is white and 
well tasted.^ They are considered by the natives of South America 
equally as good for food as the flesh of the hare or rabbit, especially the 
Virginian opossum.^" 

The Bandicoot is eaten by the aborigines of Australia ^® and by the 
lowest caste of Hindoos.* 

The Seal is all in all to the Greenlander and Esquimaux.* It is eaten 
by Kamtschatkadales,* the inhabitants of the coast of Labrador ^^ (vol. i., 
p. 4), Vancouver's Island ^® (p. 485), etc. Its flesh is coarse and oily; 
nevertheless, it was formerly served up at feasts in England, together with 
the porpoise.^ The liver, when fried, is esteemed by sailors as an agreeable 
dish.* A seal eaten during the siege of Paris was said to taste like lamb ^* 
(February 1, 1871). 

The Walrus is eaten by the Esquimaux^^ (p. 485), and highly ap- 
preciated by Arctic explorers^" (vol. ii., p. 15). 

The Whale is eaten largely by the natives of Western Australia, 
New Zealand,^ the poorer sort of Japanese*^^ (vol. iv., p. 35), the rude 
littoral tribes of Northern Asia and America,^ the natives of Vancouver's 
Island^® (pp. 53, 61), and the Esquimaux.^ Blubber is used as food in 
Vancouver's Island,*^ and by the Esquimaux"* (vol. i., p. 243). 

The blubber and flesh of the JSTarwhal, or sea-unicorn, is considered a 
great delicacy by the Greenlander.* 

The flesh of the Porpoise was formerly considered a delicacy, and re- 
ceipts for dressing it are to be found in old cookery books. The Green- 
lander esteems the flesh a great dainty, and quaffs the oil as the most 
delicious of draughts.* 

The Manatee, sea-cow, or woman-fish, a native of the seas of the West 
Indies and South America, is said to be excellent eating.* Dr. Vogel 
found the flesh very well flavored, and the fat like pork^* (vol. i.). Payen 
states that the flesh is whitish and good to eat, and that the animal's milk 
has an agreeable flavor." 

The Indian Dugong is considered good eating.* 

Mice and Hats are eaten in Asia, Africa,^ Australia" (vol. ii., p. 250), 
and New Zealand" (vol. ii., p. 17), and considered delicate morsels. The 
taste of rats is pronounced to be somewhat like that of birds" (p. 219). 
The Chinese eat them,^ and to the Esquimaux epicures the mouse is a 
real bonne bouche.^ Rats and mice were eaten in Paris during the siege.^* 

The Porcupine is reckoned delicious food in America and India, and 
resembles sucking-pig.^ The Dutch and the Hottentots are fond of it,^ 
and it is frequently brought to table at the Cape of Good Hope.^'* It is 
«aten in Sicily and Malta,^° and sold in the markets in Rome.^ 

The Agoutis, natives of the West Indies, Guiana, and Brazil, at the 
first settling in the West India Islands were exceedingly numerous, and 
constituted a great part of the food of the Indian. The flesh is white 
and tender, and much esteemed by the natives when well cooked.* 

The Squirrel is eaten by the natives of Australia^" (vol. ii., p. 250), the 
North American Indians" (vol. ii., p. 250), and is a favorite dish in Sweden 



in the above pages represent, mde the key supplied at pp. 142, 143. 



134 A TREATISE ON EOOD AND DIETETICS. 

and Norway/' The flesh is tender, and is said to resemble that of a barn- 
door fowl/" It is sometimes eaten by the lower classes in England^ and 
in the United States, and is said to make excellent pies. 

Several species of Cavia are used as food in Great Britain, Brazil^ 
and other parts of South America, especially the guinea-pig, the spotted 
cavy, the long-nosed cavy, and the rock-cavy/" 

The common Jerboa {Dipus Egyptius) is eaten by the Arabs, who 
esteem its flesh among their greatest dainties/** The Alagtaga (Dipus 
Jaculus) is larger than the common jerboa, and called by the Arabs the 
lamb of the Israelites. Many authors consider it to be the coney of the 
Scriptures and the mouse of Isaiah/ 

The Marmot of the Alps aifords nourishment to the poorer inhabitants 
of Tyrol, Savoy, and other parts. Three other species are also eaten, name- 
ly, the Maryland Marmot, Bobath, and the Cassin or Earless Marmot/'' 

The flesh of the JBeaver is much prized by the Indians and Canadian tra- 
ders especially when it is roasted in the skin after the hair has been singed 
ofP/ It is also used in South America, and said to be excellent eating/" 

The flesh of the Bison is the support of many Indian tribes; it nearly 
resembles ox-beef, but is said to be of finer flavor and easier digestion. 
The hump is baked, and eaten as a great delicacy/ 

The flesh of the Buffalo is eaten by the North American Indians'** (p. 
122), the Sumatrans" (p. 56), and the islanders of Savu^ (vol. iii., p. 688). 
Oatlin calculates that about 250,000 North American Indians subsist 
almost exclusively on this animal through every part of the year^^ (vol. i., 
p. 122). The beef is tough, dark-colored, and occasionally of a musky 
flavor. The chine is esteemed good, and is eaten by the common Italians.* 

The Camel is eaten with relish in Africa, and its milk is believed ta 
neutralize the injurious qualities of the date^ (p. 308). The flesh is alleged 
to produce serious derangement of the stomach among the Arabs" (voL 
i., p. 76, note). A camel eaten during the siege of Paris is said to have 
tasted like veaP* (Feb. 1, 1871). Camel's hump, which is spoken of as fur- 
nishing in the desert a savory dish, is to be procured in a preserved state 
at some of the dried provision establishments at the west end of London. 

The flesh of the Llama is said to resemble mutton.®" 

Captain Ross considered the flesh of the 3Iusk- Ox excellent, and free 
from any particular musky flavor, though the skin has a strong smell. ^ 
When lean, however, some complain of the flesh as smelling strong.* 

The Elk is eaten in Norway, Lapland, and Sweden, where its flesh is 
much esteemed. ^° The young are said to be particularly delicious.* The 
tongue and nose are considered great delicacies.* 

The Heindeer is eaten in Siberia^* (p. 75), and is the favorite food of 
the Esquimaux^^ (p. 485). It is the principal nourishment of the Lap- 
landers. The tongues are excellent when salted, and the milk is sweet 
and nourishing.®" 

The sinewy parts of stags are highly prized by the wealthy Chinese'* 
(p. 551). 

The flesh of the Horse is eaten largely by various nations. The In- 
dian horsemen of the Pampas live entirely on the flesh of their mares, and 
eat neither bread, fruit, nor vegetables" (p. 120). Horse-flesh is eaten by 
the Jakuts of Northern Siberia^^ (p. 23), the Tartars and natives of South 
America,* and by the islanders of Savu® (vol. i., p. 688). Mr. Bicknell, in 
his paper on " The Horse as Food for Man " " (vol. xvi., p. 349), mentions 

For the names of the works which the reference numbers 



I 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 135 

fifteen European states, besides France, where horse-flesh is eaten. The 
Icelanders have practised hippophagy since the eighth century. The Rus- 
sians have always eaten horses, and in Denmark the people returned 
to the custom of their forefathers in 1807. Wurtemburg was the first of 
the German States to adopt the practice, and commenced it in 1841. 
Bavaria, Baden, Hanover, Bohemia, Saxony, Austria, and Prussia fol- 
lowed in subsequent years. 

A Berlin newspaper states that there are at the present time (1863) 
" seven markets for horse-flesh in that city, in which, during the first ten 
months of 1862, there were seven hundred and fifty horses slaughtered. 
No horse is allowed to be slaughtered and sold without the certificate of 
a veterinary surgeon " " (1863, p. 142). 

Hippophagy was first advocated in France, in 1786, by Geraud, the dis- 
tinguished physician. 

A meeting was held in 1864, at the Acclimatization Garden in Paris, 
for the purpose of promoting the greater consumption of horse-flesh as an 
article of food^^ (1864, p. 472), and a grand hippophagic banquet was 
celebrated with great eclat at the Grand Hotel, Paris, at the commence- 
ment of 1865, under the patronage of the French Humane and Acclima- 
tization Societies^^ (1865, p. 176). 

In 1866 the first horse-butcher's shop was opened*in Paris^" (vol. xvi., 
p. 349). 

A correspondent of the Medical Times and Gazette (Sept. 26, 1867) 
stated: "In passing along the quays on my way to the Marseilles Rail- 
way Station, I was struck by the number of stalls bearing the title ' Bou- 
cherie Hippophagique,' *Boucherie de Viande de Cheval,' at La Villette, 
Paris. The attendants were very civil, and told me that they usually sold 
at the rate of two horses a day. Some of the customers assured me that 
the meat was better than beef." 

Sixty-five thousand horses, it is asserted, were eaten in Paris during 
the siege, and the flesh was facetiously called *' siege venison." 

Mr. Bicknell says: "I believe the only European countries where 
horses are not used for food with the open sanction of the law are Hol- 
land, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. 
Concerning the four first I have no information, but in Spain horses killed 
in bull-fights were eaten till quite recently, and during the Peninsular War 
the Spaniards commonly were hippophagists. The southern Italians also 
in several districts preserve strips of the meat by drying them in the sun." 

On the 6th February, 1868, a memorable "Banquet Hippophagique " 
was given at the Langham Hotel, under the auspices of Mr. Bicknell, 
The menu began with 

" Le consomme de cheval a PA, B, C," 

and after comprising in appropriate order a full list of choice-sounding 
dishes, derived from various parts of the horse, or prepared with " huile 
hippophagique," ended with 

** BUFFET." 

" Collared horse-head. Baron of horse. Boiled withers." 

Notwithstanding this example, horse-flesh must still be spoken of as 
constituting in England only canine food. 



in the above pages represent, mde the key supplied at pp. 142, 143. 



136 A TREATISE 01^^ FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

According to Pliny, the Romans at one time ate the Ass. The "wild 
ass is still in much esteem among the Persians, who consider it as equal 
to venison.^ One thousand donkeys and two thousand mules are re- 
ported to have been eaten in Paris during the siege." The flesh of the 
latter is delicious, and far superior to beef; roast mule is, in fact, an ex- 
quisite dish ^^ (p. 140). Ass's flesh forms the basis of the renowned sau- 
sages of Bologna" (p. 36). 

At a banquet given by an Academician in Paris, having MM. Velpeau, 
Tardieu, Latour, and other notabilities as guests, the ^'bifticks" and 
" filets " prepared from the flesh of an old she-ass were unanimously pro- 
nounced, it is stated, to be more tender, succulent, and delicate than 
similar plats prepared, for comparison, from the horse^'^ (April 8, 1865). 

The Collared Pecari, or Tajacu {Dicotyles torquatus), an inhabitant 
of South America, is considered good eating, and its flesh greatly re- 
sembles pork. Dicotyles lahiatus is also hunted by the natives of South 
America for food,* but the aborigines of the Amazon, who eat Dicotyles 
torquatus, will not touch Dicotyles lahiatus"^ (p. 485). 

The l^lephant is eaten in Abyssinia and other parts of Africa, also in 
Sumatra.^ Some steaks that were cut off Chunee, the elephant that was 
shot at Exeter Change, on being cooked were declared to be " pleasant 
meat." ^ The three elephants that were eaten in Paris during the siege 
were pronounced a great success. The liver was considered finer than 
that of any goose or duck^* (February 1, 1871). Dr. Livingstone writes: 
*' We had the foot cooked for breakfast next morning, and found it 
delicious. It is a whitish mass, slightly gelatinous and sweet, like mar- 
row. A long march, to prevent biliousness, is a wise precaution after a 
meal of elephant's foot. Elephant's trunk and tongue are also good, and 
after long simmering much resemble the hump of a buffalo and the 
tongue of an ox; but all the other meat is tough, and from its peculiar 
flavor only to be eaten by a hungry man"^* (p. 169). 

Rhinoceros is eaten in Abyssinia, and by some of the Dutch settlers 
in the Cape Colony, and is in high esteem' (p. 92). 

The Tapir. — The North American Indian compares the flesh of the 
tapir to beef.^ Although much esteemed it is considered by the inhabi- 
tants of South America to be inferior to beef.^° 

The flesh of the Hippopotamus supplies a substantial meal to the 
African, and when young is delicate, but when old is coarse, fat and 
strong, being inferior to beef.' The young meat is much esteemed by 
the Hottentots and natives of Abyssinia.* Dr. Livingstone writes: " The 
hippopotamus-hunters form a separate people, called Akombwi or Mapo- 
dzo, and rarely — the women, it is said, never — intermarry with any other 
tribe. The reason for their keeping aloof from certain of the natives on 
the Zambesi is obvious enough, some having as great an abhorrence of hip- 
popotamus-meat as Mahommedans have of swine's flesh " ^* (p. 39). The 
hippopotamus that was killed and partly burnt in the fire at the Crystal 
Palace, a few years back, was eaten by Dr. Crisp and some of his friends, 
who reported that the flavor of the flesh was excellent, and its color 
whiter than any veal ^* (vol. i., p. 240). 

The Earth Hog ( Orycteropus Capensis) is a native of the Cape of 
Good Hope. Although its food (ants) gives its flesh a strong taste of 
formic acid, it is relished both by the Hottentots and Europeans. The 
hind quarter is especially esteemed when cured as ham.* 



For the names of the works which the reference numbers 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 137 

The Armadillo is eaten in South America, and its flesh is fat and ex- 
cellent/ The hunters roast it in its shell.* 

Sloths are eaten by the natives of Australia^' (vol. ii., p. 250). 

The entrails of animals are consumed by the natives of Australia^^ (p. 
67), and the Hottentots consider them to be most exquisite eating^'' (pp. 
47, 200). Dr. Livingstone writes: " It is curious that this is the part that 
■wild animals always begin with, and that it is also the first choice of our 
men"'" (p. 194). 

The Zulus are so fond of carrio7i, or decomposed flesh with worms in 
it, that, according to a letter of Bishop Colenso, published in the Times^ 
they use their word (ubomi) representing it as a synonym for their high- 
est notion of happiness^^ (p. 424. October, 1872). 

The Cuckoo is not an uncommon dish on the Continent, and the 
Arabs consider it a great delicacy.^ 

Parrots and Cockatoos are eaten by the natives of Australia^^ (vol. ii., 
p. 250), and the flesh of parrots, when young, is delicate and largely 
eaten in Brazil.^ Toucans are eaten by the aborigines of the Amazon^ 
(p. 485), and in Brazil.* 

The Ostrich affords an abundant banquet to many savage nations of 
Africa, where it is sometimes kept in a tame state for breeding.* Dr. 
Livingstone writes that the flesh is white and coarse. When in good 
condition it in some degree resembles that of a turkey" (p. 156), but the 
flesh is only good when young, for when it is full-grown the bird is very 
fat.* Three ostriches were eaten in Paris during the siege. ^" 

The Spotted Crake, or speckled water-hen, is highly esteemed in France 
for the flavor of its flesh, and few birds can match it in autumn as a rich 
morsel for the table.* 

The Crane was eaten by the Romans (Horace, Epod. ii.), and it is 
mentioned in England as being served up as a sumptuous dish at splen- 
did entertainments as early as the Norman Conquest, and as late as the 
reign of Henry VIII. At the Enthronization Feast of George Nevil, 
Archbishop of York, 6 Edward IV., there were 204 cranes, 204 bitterns, 
and 400 heronshaws** (voh ii., p. 171). 

The JBustard is good eating, and much esteemed in some places.* 

The Albatross is eaten by the aborigines of New Zealand® (vol. iii., p. 
447); its eggs are considered excellent.* 

The Cormorant. — The Manx, like the Scotch, make a rich soup out of 
the blood of this bird*' (vol. ii., p. 220). 

The flesh of the Gull is indifferent eating, but it is often brought to 
market in Roman Catholic countries during Lent.* The eggs of the 
JCema ridibunda are well flavored, and the young birds were at one time 
in high repute in this country at the tables of the wealthy.* 

The JPea-fowl'\s> occasionally eaten, and its flesh is reputed to be good, 
but the beauty of the peacock's plumage renders it too valuable a bird to 
form an ordinary article of food. In olden times the peacock occupied 
its place at the table as one of the dishes in the second course at every 
great feast. 

The Pelican is eaten by the natives of Australia'^ (vol. ii., p. 251). 

Penguins are eaten by the aborigines of New Zealand® (vol. iii., p. 
447). 

Swans were eaten by the ancients, and often appeared of old at great 
banquets in England. They are eaten by the natives of Australia^" (vol. 

in the above pages represent, vide the key supplied at pp. 142, 143. 



138 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

ii., p. 251), and the flesh of the cygnet, which is said to have a flavor re- 
sembling both the goose and the hare, is still considered a delicacy in 
Europe.* 

JBirds^ Nests of a special kind are an article of food much prized in 
China, on account of the nutritive properties w^hich they are supposed to 
possess. They are of a gelatinous nature, and chiefly used for making 
soup. They are furnished by several species of swallow, and are found 
in the caverns on the sea-shore of the Eastern Archipelago. It has been 
ascertained that they in great part consist of a peculiar mucus which this 
bird secretes and discharges from its mouth in great abundance. The 
nests adhere to the rock, and are collected after the young are fledged, 
with the help of ladders or ropes. The cleansing of the nests for the 
markets is a long and tedious process, and a number of persons are em- 
ployed at Canton in conducting the operation" (p. 162). The prepared 
article, which has the appearance of dried gelatinous-looking fragments, 
is to be purchased in some of the London shops. 

Lizards are eaten by the Chinese^ (vol. iii., p. 761), the Bushmen' (p. 
38), and the natives of Australia^'* (vol. ii., p. 250). 

The Iguana inhabits South America and the West Indies, where it 
is esteemed a delicate food,* although it has been usually considered 
unwholesome^^ (vol. ix., p. 724). Its eggs are nutritious and agree- 
able.^" AmhlyrhynchuSj a genus of lizard resembling the iguana, found 
in the Galapagos Islands, is esteemed by the natives a delicate kind of 
food/ 

The crested Basilisk, which is upwards of three feet in length, is eaten 
by the inhabitants of Amboyna and the islands of the Indian Archipelago, 
Its flesh is as white and delicate as that of a chicken.* 

Snahes are eaten by the Chinese,^ the natives of Australia^^ (vol. ii., p. 
250), and by those of many other countries, but the flesh is reckoned 
unwholesome, and liable to occasion leprosy^ (p. 197). A nutritious 
broth for invalids is made, in some places, from the flesh of the poisonous 
viper'' (vol. ix., p. 724). 

Land Tortoises are eaten by the natives of the Amazon^ (p. 485), of 
India,* of South Africa,*" and by the North American Indians*' (part 1, 
p. 65). Payen considers the flesh of the tortoise a wholesome food," and 
Dr. Livingstone found it a very agreeable dish*° (p. 135). It is said to 
resemble veal.*° 

The flesh of the Marine Turtle is largely eaten and highly esteemed 
where the animal is captured, besides yielding in this country the choicest 
of soups. 

The Fresh Water Turtle abounds in the marshes of Provence, on the 
shores of the Rhone, and in Sardinia," and is eaten by the inhabitants, 
as it is by the natives of Australia^'^ (vol. ii., p. 250). The flesh of the 
Trionyx Ferox is considered very delicate food, and on the coasts of 
North America it is angled for with a hook and line baited with small 
fish.* 

The Crocodile is eaten and relished by the natives of parts of Africa* 
(p. 379) and Australia.^ Dr. Livingstone writes: "To us the idea of 
tasting the musky-scented, fishy-looking flesh carried the idea of canni- 
balism." ^* (p. 452). The eggs are dug out of the ground and devoured 
by the natives. Dr. Livingstone says of them: "In taste they resemble 
hens' eggs, with perhaps a smack of custard, and would be as highly rel- 

For the uames of the works which the reference numbers 



ALEMENTAKY SUBSTANCES. 139 

ished by whites as by blacks, were it not for their unsavory origin in 
men-eaters" " (p. 443). 

Frogs are eaten by the Chinese® (vol. iii., p. 761), the natives of Aus- 
tralia^* (vol. ii., p. 250), and many other countries. The JRana escidenta 
is highly prized in France for its hind legs, which form the part eaten, 
and these may be seen sometimes skewered together in the windows of 
some of the provision establishments in Paris. 

Attempts have been made at different times to acclimatize the Rana 
escidenta in England, and apparently with some success in Cambridge- 
shire, where it is said their very remarkable and sonorous croak has pro- 
cured for them the name of the " Cambridgeshire nightingales" ^^ (vol. 
X., pp. 483, 520). The JRana taurina, or bull-frog, is a native of North 
America, and is thought by the Americans to rival turtle^** (vol. ix., p. 
724). This large eatable frog has been recently introduced into France 
by the Societe d'Acclimatisation." A large frog called 3Iatlainhtlo is 
eaten bv the South Africans, which, when cooked, looks like a chicken*' 

(p. 42); 

The Toad is eaten by the negroes^ (p. 439), and a species called JRana 
hombina is eaten in some places like a fish^® (vol. ix.). 

The Axolotl of Mexico is esteemed an agreeable article of food, dressed 
like stewed eels.* 

The 3Iud JEel (Lepidosiren) is eaten by the natives of the river Gambia, 
It has a rich, oily flavor, and when fried tastes like an eel.^ 

The flesh of the Sicord-Jish (Ziiohias platypterus of Shaw) was known 
in early times as an article of food, and its fame is not undeserved. The 
flesh near the vertebrae is pale salmon-colored, and any epicure of fish 
might be recommended to try a cutlet from it. Lower down it is red 
and like coarse beef" (new series, vol. vii., 1873, p. 32). 

A species of Scarus, or parrot-fish, was highly esteemed by the Ro- 
man epicures, and the Greeks still consider it to be a fish of exquisite 
flavor. * 

Sharks are eaten by the Gold Coast negroes' (pp. 220, 224) and the 
natives of Xew Zealand" (vol. ii., p. 43), but not by the natives of Western 
Australia.' The natives of the Polynesian Islands feast on them in a raw 
state, and gorge themselves so as to occasion vomiting.' 

Dr. Hector writes as follows of edible sharks: "The Maoris are large 
consumers of sharks, or mango, as they term them, of various species, but 
chiefly the Smooth-hound (Jld^icstelhis antarcticus), Dog-fish of two species 
(ScyUluni laticeps and Acanthias vidgaris)^ and the Tope ( Galeus cams). 
All of these may be seen at certain seasons, at any Maori settlement by 
the sea-side, hanging on poles to dry in thousands, and rendering the 
neighborhood extremely unpleasant. The species most valued is, how- 
ever, the smooth-hound, which is the only shark that is properly edible, 
as it lives on shell-fish and crabs, and has the same clean-feeding habits 
as the skate. In the Hebrides and north of Scotland the flesh of this 
harmless little shark is considered to be a great delicacy, but I have 
never heard of its being eaten by the white settlers in the colony"*' (p. 
120). The tins of sharks are highlv prized bv the wealthv Chinese^' (p. 
551). 

Spiders are eaten by the Bushmen, and by the inhabitants of New 
Caledonia' (p. 315). 

Several species of Beetles are eaten by women of different nations, iu 



in the above pages represent, vide the key supplied at pp. 142, 143. 



140 A TEEATISE ON iOOD AND DIETETICS. 

the belief that they will cause them to grow fat and become prolific in 
■childbearing'. 

The Ulaps sulcata is eaten, cooked with butter, by the Egyptian 
women,* who also eat the Scarahoeus sacer to make themselves be 
come prolific*® (vol. iii., p. 129). The women of Arabia and Turkey eat 
a species of tenebrio fried in butter, to make themselves plump 
.(vol. iii.). 

Grasshopper's are eaten by the Bushmen^ (p. 38). 

JOoctcsts are eaten in great quantities, both fresh and salted^* (vol. ix., 
p. 727). They have a strongly vegetable taste, the flavor varying with 
the plants on which they feed. Dr. Livingstone considered them palata- 
ble when roasted*" (p. 42). They are eaten by the Persians, Egyptians, 
and Arabians,*® the Bushmen,^ and North American Indians*^ (part 1, p. 
65), and by many others. Diodorus Siculus and Ludolphus both refer to a 
race of people in Ethiopia supporting themselves upon locusts.*® Ludol- 
phus remarks: "For it is a very sweet and wholesome sort of dyet, by 
means of which a certain Portuguez garrison in India, that was ready 
to yield for want of provision, held out till it was relieved another 
way." Madden states in his "Travels" : "The Arabs make a sort of 
bread of locusts. They dry them and grind them to powder, then mix 
this powder with water, forming them into round cakes, which serve for 
bread." 

JVhite Ants are eaten by the natives of Australia^^ (vol. ii., p. 250), 
and by those on the banks of the Zonga, where they are highly appreci- 
-ated'* (p. 465). 

I^ees are eaten by various peoples *® (vol. iii. ), and the Moors in West 
Barbary esteem the honeycomb, with young bees in it, as delicious; but 
by one witness it has been spoken of as insipid to his palate, and as hav- 
ing sometimes given him heartburn^^ (vol. ix., p. 727). 

Moths of several varieties are eaten by the natives of Australia" (vol. 
ii., p. 250); one species, called Bugong, is said to be more prized by the 
Australian than any other sort of food. The bodies of these insects, it is 
stated, are large, and contain a quantity of oil; they are sought after as 
a luscious and fattening food.^^ *® 

The Cicada, an insect of the homopterous group, was eaten by the 
-Greeks,* and Pinto mentions a people who used Flies as an article of 
food.*® 

The LarvoB of Ants are eaten by the Bushmen® (p. 38). Scopoli 
speaks of the larvae of the Musca putris as a dainty.*® JElian mentions 
the circumstance of an Indian king treating some of his Grecian guests 
with the larvae of an insect instead of food.*® The larvae of the Cerambyx 
heros is believed to be the Cossus of the ancients, by whom it was consid- 
ered a great dainty.* 

Caterpillars were eaten by the ancient Romans, and are in high esti- 
mation among the natives of South Africa*® *° (p. 42). 

Grubs of all kinds are eaten by the natives of Australia^^ ^^ (p. 67), 
and the chrysalis of the Silkworm is eaten by the Chinese.*® 

The Cuttlefish is used as food in some parts of Europe;* and a bi- 
valve allied to the oyster, called Anomia ephippium, which is found on 
the coasts of the Mediterranean, is considered not inferior to the common 
oyster." 

The Vineyard Snail {Helix pomatia) is used as food in many parts of 



1 



For the names of the works which the reference numbers 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. ' 141 

Europe during Lent.* It is reared and fattened witii great care in some- 
cantons in Switzerland as an article of luxury, and exported in a pickled 
state. Many other snails are eaten by the poor, and none are known to- 
be hurtfuP^ (vol. ix., p. 737). The common Garden /Snail (ITelix as- 
2yersa) is used in some parts as a cure for diseases of the chest.* Snails 
on the Continent, and even slugs in China, have a reputation for delicacy 
of eating and nutritive power.^^ 

The common Sea- Urchin, or sea-egg (Echinus sphcera), is much sought 
after as food in some parts of Europe during the latter part of summer, 
at which time it is almost filled with eggs.* It is also eaten by the inhab- 
itants of Otaheite^ (vol. ii., p. 154). 

Holothurios (sea-cucumbers) are eaten largely by the Chinese,^ the na- 
tives of the Indian Archipelago,* the Australian* and South Sea Islands*"^ 
(vol. ii., p. 568). They are also taken on the coast of Naples and eaten 
by the poorer inhabitants.* 

Earth-eating may be appropriately referred to here, as some kinds of 
earth used as food in certain localities have been found to consist in part 
of the remains of minute animal organisms. 

Humboldt, on his return from the Rio Negro, saw a tribe of Ottomacs- 
who lived principally during the rainy season upon a fat, unctuous clay 
which they found in their district^* (pp. 143-4). This appears to hav^e 
consisted of a red, earthy matter (hydrous silicate of alumina) called hole^ 
It is also eaten by the Japanese after being made into thin cakes called 
tcmaampo, which are exposed for sale, and bought by the women to give- 
themselves slenderness of form.* Ehrenberg found that this earth con- 
sisted for the most part of the remains of microscopic animals and plants- 
which had been deposited from fresh water. 

A kind of earth known as hread.-meal, which consists, for the most 
part, of the empty shells of minute infusorial animalcules, is still largely 
eaten in Northern Europe; and a similar substance, called n^ountain^ 
meal, has been used in Northern Germany in times of famine as a means 
of staying hunger. The Wanyamwezi, a tribe living in Central Africa, 
eat clay in the intervals between meals, and prefer the clay of ant-hills^^ 
(vol. ii., p. 28). The colored inhabitants of Sierra Leone also devour the 
red earth of which the ant-hills are composed" (vol. xix., p. 72). John- 
ston asserts that the African earth did not injure the negroes, but that 
when they were carried as slaves to the \Yest India Islands they were 
found to suffer in their health from the clav they there used as a substi- 
tute" (vol. ii., p. 201). 

It has been found that much of the clay eaten by many of the inhab- 
itants of the torrid zone is mere dirt, and has no alimentary value. The 
Agmara Indians eat a whitish clay, which is rather gritty, and has been 
shown by careful analysis to be destitute of any organic matter which 
might afford nutriment^* (vol. i., p, 370). One of the earliest notices of 
the practice of dirt-eating is given by Sir Samuel Argoll, with respect ta 
Virginia, in 1613. "In this journie," he says, " I likewise found a myne, 
of which I have sent a triall into England; and likewise a strange kind 
of earth, the virtue whereof I know not, but the Indians eate it for 
Physicke, alleging that it cureth the sicknesse and paine of the belly." ^"^ 
In Guinea the negroes eat a yellowish earth called cavuac. In the West 
Indies a white clay lik^ tobacco-pipe clay is eaten, and this the eaters- 
prefer to spirits or toba-;co^* (vol. vii., p. 550). In 1751 a species of red 

in the above pages represent, xide the key supplied at pp. 142, 143. 



142 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

earth, or yellowish tufa, is reported to have been still secretly sold in the 
markets of Martinique/*' 

So widely spread is the depraved appetite for dirt-eating, or " geo- 
phagie," that it is alleged to be one of the chief endemic disorders of all 
tropical America. The victims of the practice never appear to be able 
to free themselves from the habit. Children, it is said, acquire it almost 
from the breast, and " women, as they lie in bed sleepless and restless, 
will pull out pieces of mud from the adjoining walls of their rooms to 
gratify their strange appetite, or will soothe a squalling brat by tempting 
it with a lump of the same material." ^^ Officers who have Indian or 
half-bred children in their employ as servants sometimes have to use wire 
masks to keep them from putting the cla}^ into their mouths.^® A negro 
addicted to this propensity is considered to be irrevocably lost for any 
useful purpose, and seldom lives long^® (vol. vii., p. 550). It is impossi- 
ble to keep the victim from obtaining the injurious substance. Children 
who commence the practice early frequently decline and die in two or 
three years, and dropsy usually appears to be the prominent cause of dis- 
solution. In other cases they may live to middle age, but sooner or later 
dysentery supervenes, and proves fatal. Dr. Gait speaks of having him- 
self seen a Mestize soldier sinking from dysentery with a lump of clay 
stuffed in his sunken cheeks half an hour before his death. ^^ 



Key to the Reference Numbers Contained in the Preceding Pages on 

ExcEPTiONAi. Animal Foods. 

' Bo wring (Sir John), The Population of China. (Statistical Society's Journal, vol. 
XX., pp. 41-53.) 

■^ Wallace (A, R.), Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro. London, 
1843. 

'^ Simmonds (P. L.), The Curiosities of Food ; or, the Dainties and Delicacies of Differ- 
ent Nations obtained from the Animal Kingdom. London, 1859. 

^ Baird (W.), Cyclopgedia of the Natural Sciences, London, 1858. 

^ Webster (T.), An Encyclopgedia of Domestic Economy, London, 1844. 

*• Dauraas (General), The Horses of the Sahara and the Manners of the Desert. Trans- 
lated by James Hutton. London, 1863. 

' Lyon (G, F.), A Narrative of Travels in North Africa in 1818-20. London, 1821, 

^ Burton (R, F. ), The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to Cali- 
fornia. London, 1861. 

^ Cook's (Captain) First Voyage. (Hawkesworth's Voyages, 3 vols. London, 1773.) 

'0 Sheppard (N,), Shut up in Paris. London, 1871. 

^' Dieffenbach (E.), Travels in New Zealand. 2 vols, London, 1843. 

'■^ Eyre (E. J,), Journal of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia in 1840-41. 
2 vols. London, 1845. 

^•^ Burton (R. F. ), The Lake Regions of Central Africa : a Picture of Exploration. 2 
vols. London, 1860. 

'^ Food Journal. London. 

^^ Wilkes (C), Narrative of the Cnited States Exploring Expedition, 1838-42, 5 vols. 
London, 1845, 

'® Dawson, (R,), Present State of Australia, 1830, 

^'' Hind (H. Y.), Explorations in the Interior of the Labrador Peninsula. 2 vols. 
London, 1863. 

'^ Sproat (G. M.), Scenes and Studies of Savage Life. London, 1868. 

'^ Lubbock (Sir John), Prashistoric Times, as Illustrated by Ancient Remains, and the 
, Manners and Customs of Modern Savages. London, 1869, 

'^•^ Kane (E. K,), Arctic Explorations: the Second Grinmill Expedition in Search of 
Sir John Franklin, 1853-55. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1856. 

'^' Thunberg (C, P.), Travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia, 1770-79. 4 vols. London. 
1795, 

'''^ Richardson (Sir John), Arctic Searching Expedition. 2 vols. London, 1851. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 143 

^''^ Schoolcraft (H. R.), Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, 
Condition, and Prospects of Indian Tribes of the United States. 3 vols. Phila- 
delphia, 1851-53. 

24 Stdlivan (E. ), Rambles and Scrambles in North and South America. London, 1852. 

'^^ Marsden (W.), The History of Sumatra. London. 

^^ Catlin (Gr.j, Letters on North American Indians. 3 vols. 1843. 

2' Tennent (Sir Emerson), Ceylon : an Account of the Island, Physical, Historical, and 
Topographical. 3 vols. London, 1859. 

28 Wrangeli (F. von). Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea in 1830-33. Edited 
by Lieui.-Col. Edward Sabine. London, 1844. 

2^ Barrow (Sir John), Travels in China. London, 1806. 

2f* Journal of the Society of Arts. London. 

31 Head (Sir F. B.), Journeys across the Pampas. 1838. 

2- Medical Times and Gazette. London. 

23 Saicey (F. ), Paris during the Siege, London, 1871. 

^ Livingstone (Dr.), Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries, 
18o8-G4. London, 1865. 

35 Kolben (P.), Present State of the Cape of Good Hope. London, 1731. 

^^ Quarterly Review. London. 

3'' Payen (A.), Precis Theorique et Pratique des Substances Alimentaires. Paris, 1865. 

38 The Lancet. London. 

33 Encyclopsedia Britanuica. Seventh Edition. 31 vols. Edinburgh, 1843. 

^•^ Livingstone (Dr.), Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. London, 
1857. 

^' Arch^ologia. Published by the Society of Antiquaries. London. 

*- Teignmouth (Lord), Sketches of the Coasts and Islands of Scotland and the Isle of 
Man. 3 vols. London, 1836. 

^3 Loskiel (G. H.), History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians 
in North America. 3 parts. London, ] 794. 

^ Simpson (Sir George), Narrative of a Journey Round the World during the Years 
1841 and 1843. 3 vols. London, 1847. 

45 Fishes of New Zealand : Notes on the Edible Fishes. By James Hector, Geological 
Survey Department. Wellington, 1872. 

4^ Letheby (Dr.), On Food : Cantor Lectures. London, 1870. 

*'' Scherzer (K.), Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe in the Austrian Fri- 
gate " Novara" in 1857-59. 3 vols. London, 1861-63. 

^^ Transactions of the Entomological Society. London. 

^3 Andrews of Wyntown. — The Orygynal Cronykil of Scotland. AVith Notes by David 
Macpherson. 3 vols. London, 1795. 

^ Robert Lind.say of Pitscottie. — The Chronicles of Scotland. Edited by J. G. Daly ell. 
Edinburgh, 1814. 

^1 Chambers (R.), The Book of Days. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 

5^ Chambers' Encyclopasdia. 10 vols. London, 1868. 

" Turner (Rev. George), Nineteen Years ia Polynesia. London, 1861. 

" Humboldt (A.lexander von), Views of Nature. Translated by E. C. Otte and H. G. 
Bohn. London, 1850. 

55 Journal of the Statistical Society. London. 

56 Johnston (J. F. W.), Chemistry of Common Life. Revised by G. H. Lewes. 3 vols. 

London, 1859, 

5'' Algol! (Sir Samuel), Touching his Voyage to Virginia, 1613. (Purchas his Pilgrimes, 
vol. iv., p. 1765.) 

58 Encyclopgedia Metropolitana. 35 vols. London, 1845. 

53 Gait (Dr.), Medical Notes of the Upper Amazon. Published in the American Jour- 
nal of the Medical Sciences, and quoted in the Lancet, December 14, 1873. 

«• Forsyth (J. S), 'Dictionary of Diet. London, 1835. 

*' Nature. A Weekly Periodical. London. 

^' Trans.ictions of Royal Society of Arts and Sciences. Mauritius. 



144 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



VEGETABLE ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 

Although vegetable substances differ so much physically, and in some 
respects, also, chemically, from the components of animal beings, they are 
susceptible of conversion into these components, and, alone, contain all 
that is absolutely requisite for the support of animal life. A more com- 
plex elaborating system, however, is required to fit them for appropria- 
tion than is the case with animal substances, and accordingly it is found 
that the digestive organs of the herbivora are developed upon a larger 
and higher scale than those of the carnivora. 

The vegetable products that form even common articles of food are 
exceedingly varied and numerous. To attempt to arrange them under 
any strict classification would only lead to embarrassment, and often in- 
volve practical inconvenience. It will be sufficient for the purposes of 
descriptioi to distribute them into the following general group: farina- 
ceous seeds; oleaginous seeds; tubers and roots; herbaceous articles; sac- 
charine and farinaceous preparations. 

FARINACEOUS SEEDS. 

These rank first in importance amongst vegetable alimentary products. 
They are alike plentifully yielded, of easy digestion, and of high nutritive 
value. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the farinaceous seeds 
form the largest and the most widely consumed portion of our vegetable 
food. Of the farinaceous seeds, those, as wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice, 
maize or Indian corn, etc., derived from the Cerealia — a tribe of grasses — 
take the first place as articles of food; and next follow those derived from 
the Zieguminosce, or pulse tribe, as, for instance, peas, beans, and lentils. 
Some other farinaceous seeds will be mentioned as employed, but they are 
of far less significance in an alimentary point of view. 

THE CEREALIA. 

The various cereal grains agree in their genera, composition, but dif- 
ferences exist in the relative amounts of the constituent principles, which 
give them different degrees of alimentary value. 

The principles enumerated are: 

First. — Nitrogenous compounds, consisting of glutine, albumen, case- 
ine, and fibrine, with an active principle, chiefly encountered in the cor- 
tical part of the grain, which, like diastase, possesses the powder of con- 
verting starch into sugar. The material known as gluten, as will be more 
particularly mentioned farther on, comprises a mixture of glutine, caseine, 
and fibrine. 

Second. — Non-nitrogenous substances, as starch, dextrine, sugar, and 
cellulose. 

Third. — Fatty matter, including a volatile oil, which constitutes the 
source of the odorous quality possessed by the grain. 

Fourth. — Mineral substances, comprising phosphates of lime and 
magnesia, salts of potash and soda, and silica. 

The following table represents the relative amounts of the constituent 
principles contained in various kinds of grain in a dry state, according to 
the analyses of Payen: * 



* Substances Alimentaires, p. 305. Paris, 1865. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



145 



Composition of Various Cereal Grains in a 


Dry Stated (Payen). 




Hard wheat. 
Venezuela. 


Hard wheat. 
Africa. 


Hard wheat. 
Taganrog. 


Semi- hard 
wheat. 
Brie. 


White or 

sofl wheat. 

Tmelle. 


Nitrogenous matter, . 

Starch, 

Dextrine, etc., 

Cellulose, 

Fatty matter, 

Mineral matter, .... 


22.75 

58.62 
9.50 
3.50 
2.61 
3.02 


19.50 
65.07 
7.60 
3.00 
2.12 
2.71 


20.00 
63.80 
8.00 
3.10 
2.25 
2.85 


15.25 

70.05 

7.00 

3.00 

\ 1.95 

2.75 


12.65 
76.51 

6.05 
2.80 
1.87 
2.12 




100.00 


100.00 


100.00 


100.00 


100.00 1 





Rye. f 


Barley. 


Oatg. 


Maize. 


Rice. 


Nitrogenous matter, . 

Starch, 

Dextrine, etc., 

Cellulose, 

Fatty matter, 

IVIineral matter, .... 


12.50 

64.65 

14.90 

3.10 

2.25 

2.60 


12.96 

66.43 

10.00 

4.75 

2.76 

3.10 


14.39 
60.59 
9.25 
7.06 
5.50 
3.25 


12.50 
67.55 
4.00 
5.90 
8.80 
1.25 


7.55 
88.65 
1.00 
1.10 
0.80 
0.90 




100.00 


100.00 


100. 00 J 


100.00 


100.00 



It will be seen from the preceding table that different kinds of wheat 
differ considerably in composition, and particularly so in the amount of 
nitrogenous matter and starch they contain, the two standing* in an in- 
verse ratio to each other. But more will be said regarding this farther 
on. Oats are rich in nitrogenous matter, fat, and salts. Maize contains 
a fair amount of nitrogenous matter, but is poor in salts. It further stands 
out from all the rest by virtue of the large amount of fatty matter pres' 
ent. Barley occupies a mean position with reference to all the constitu- 
ents. Rice is characterized by richness in starch and poorness in nitro- 
genous matter, fatty matter, and salts. The knowledge thus supplied is 
of considerable value in relation to the employment of the several kinds 
of grain as articles of food. 

Wheat. — Wheat may be said to form the most useful article of vege- 
table food, and hence it is one of the most extensively and widely cuki- 
vated of the cereal grains. 

As supplied for use, wheat consists of the grain deprived of the husk 
with which it was originally invested. Each grain is composed of a hard, 
colored, tegumentary portion, and a central, easily pulverizable, white sub- 
stance, which yields the product constituting flour. 

* In an ordinary state grain contains from 11 to 18 per cent, of water, 
f Deviation from the correct total of + 2.0. Possibly an error in the amount of the 
starch. 

X Deviation from the correct total of -h 0. 04. 

10 



146 A TEEATISU ON POOD AND DIETETICS. 

The tegumentary portion consists, externally, of an exceedingly hard 
layer, which is of a dense, ligneous nature, and so coherent that it pre- 
sents itself under the form of scales when wheat is subjected to the or- 
dinary process of grinding. This constitutes the greater bulk of bran, 
and is of a perfectly indigestible nature, and, therefore, useless as an ar- 
ticle of nutrition. Moreover, it acts, to some extent, as an irritant to the 
alimentary canal, and thus, whilst of service, retained with the flour, in 
cases where constipation exists, it should be avoided in irritable states of 
the bowel, and also by those who work hard, for with these it is liable to 
hurry the food too quickly through the alimentary tract, and occasion 
waste by promoting its escape without undergoing digestion and absorp- 
tion. 

Farther in, the cortex is softer and more friable. This part goes 
with the pollard obtained in the process of dressing flour. It forms the 
portion of the grain which is the richest in nitrogenous matter, fat, and 
salts. It possesses, therefore, a high alimentary value. Amongst the 
nitrogenous matter in this situation, a peculiar soluble, active principle 
is contained, called cerealine, which resembles diastase in being endowed 
with the power of converting starcn into sugar. 

Cerealine has been represented as leading, by a metamorphosing influ- 
ence exerted during the occurrence of fermentation, to the development 
of the dark color and marked taste belonging to brown bread; and it is 
said that if the bread be made in such a way that the cerealine is not af- 
forded the opportunity of exerting this action, the product, although de- 
rived from the external as well as the central part of the grain, has neither 
the high color nor the strong taste of ordinary brown bread. 

The central white substance of the grain is chiefly composed of starch; 
but nitrogenous, fatty, and saline matters are also all present to some 
extent. The nitrogenous matter consists of several principles. There is 
albumen, mucine or caseine, fibrine, and glutine. What is called gluten 
— the ductile, tenacious, raw material left when flour is kneaded with 
water, and afterwards washed to remove the starch — does not represent a 
simple or pure nitrogenous principle. It is called crude gluten, and is re- 
solvable into Liebig's vegetable fibrine, mucine, and glutine. The albu- 
men of the flour is not present in it. This latter principle, being soluble 
in water, is carried away with the starch in the process of washing. 

It has been said that the external part of the grain is richer than the 
central in nitrogenous matter. This remark, however, is not to be taken 
as applying to gluten. Gluten, indeed, preponderates in the central fa- 
rinaceous part, the nitrogenous matter of the exterior being principally 
composed of vegetable fibrine. 

It is to gluten — and this exists to a special extent in wheat — that 
wheaten flour owes its aptitude for being made into bread. This sub- 
stance, by virtue of its tenacity, and its susceptibility of solidification by 
heat, is capable of entangling gas generated or incorporated amongst it, 
and then becomino; fixed in such a manner -as to furnish a light, spongy, 
or porous article like well-made bread. 

As regards sugar as a constituent of wheaten flour, Payen remarks 
that, whilst some authorities have affirmed that it is present, others have 
declared that they have been unable to discover it. On both sides, he 
says, truth exists, and that it depends on the harvesting, grinding, and 
keeping of the wheat and flour, whether sugar is present or not. It arises 
from the action of the diastase-like principle contained in the grain on 
the starch and dextrine; and according as the circumstances are favor- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 147 

able or unfavorable for the change, so will be the analytical result 
obtained. 

There are several kinds of wheat met with in commerce, and the table 
given at p. 145 shows that a considerable difference may exist in the 
chemical composition of the article. The difference depends upon the 
variety of the plant that has yielded the grain, and also upon the climate 
and soil where it has grown. What is called hard wheat is the richest in 
gluten. It is produced in the warm countries of the south, and upon the 
most fertile soils. The grain is characterized })y a horny, semi-transpar- 
ent appearance and hardness throughout. It is drier, keeps better, and 
gives a larger amount of product in the mill, but a less white flour, than 
other kinds of wheat. It is this form of wheat that is employed for mak- 
ing macaroni, vermicelli, and such-like preparations. White or soft 
wheat presents a more farinaceous condition'; it is mOre easily ground 
and yields a whiter and finer flour. With less gluten, it contains a larger 
proportion of starch, and, therefore, forms the most suitable kind of wheat 
for the extraction of this latter principle as an article for domestic use. 
It is the intermediate, or semi-hard wheat, which is the best for the use 
of the baker. In Payen's table the nitrogenous matter in dried wheat 
ranges, it may be seen, from 12 to 22, and the starch from 58 to 76 per 
cent. 

Wheat is but very rarely used in the entire state as an article of food. 
It forms, however, a constituent of what is called /rwnenti/, which consists 
of wheat-scrains boiled in milk. There is also a Yorkshire dish made with 
wheat and raisins boiled in milk (rForsyth). For ordinary alimentary pur- 
poses wheat is subjected to grinding, and usually afterward separated 
into flour, pollard, and bran, the flour being appropriated to our use, and 
the other products employed as food for the lower animals. 

Meal is the simple product of grinding, and, therefore, contains all the 
elements of the grain. It is from this that brown bread is made. If not 
used in this way (and, as is well known, it is only exceptionally that it is) 
it is submitted by the miller to bolting, sifting, or dressing, to separate 
the flour from the coarser particles — forming pollard and sharps; and 
these, again, from the coarsest of all — forming bran. Flour, also, is pro- 
duced or '' dressed " of different degrees of fineness, to meet the demand 
of the consumer. The finer the flour is dressed, the whiter the bread 
that it produces. In fine flour, however, there is an exclusion of every- 
thing except the strictly farinaceous central part of the grain; and as this 
contains the least amount of nitrogenous matter, the eye is gratified at 
the sacrifice of this material. A coarser flour, although yielding a less 
white bread, contains a larger proportion of nitrogenous matter, and thus 
is better adapted to meet our requirements; for, even under all circum- 
stances, the farinaceous element is out of proportion to the nitrogenous, 
looked at in relation to the demand existins: in the case of each for the 
purposes of life. Processes have been proposed for converting more of 
the grain into flour than by the ordinary plan of grinding. They are re- 
ferred to in connection with the subject of bread at p. 149. 

Medium wheat usually yields from 72 to 80 per cent, of good flour 
(Payen), and from about 5 to 10 per cent, of bran. The miller sometimes 
tries to increase the yield of flour by grinding with the stones set closely, 
but it is at the expense of the quality of the flour, for the starch-granule 
becomes thereby bruised and damaged, and it is found to be deteriorated 
for the purpose of bread-making. Bakers prefer a flour which feels a little 
harsh between the finger and thumb, instead of soft and smooth. 



148 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Co7nposition of Flour. 

From Letheby's table p 

of analyses. ayen. 

Nitrogenous matter, . . . 10.8 14.45 



I 



Carbohydrates, 
Fatty matter, . 
Mineral matter, 
Water, . 



70.5 68.48 

2.0 1.^5 

1.7 1.60 

15.0 14.22 



100.0 100.00 



The amount of gluten in wheaten flour, according to Dr. Letheby, 
ranges from 8 to 15 per cent., the average being about 11. 

Cones, or cones floxir,\^ the name applied to the flour of a particular 
species of wheat called " reve^." It is used by bakers for dusting the 
dough and the boards upon which the loaves are made, to facilitate the 
manipulation by preventing adhesion. It appears, from the analyses of 
Dr. Hassall, to be extensively adulterated with the flour of rice and other 
cereals, and sometimes even not to contain a particle of wheaten flour. 
Thus adulterated, it can be sold at a lower price than ordinary flour, and 
it is not surprising, therefore, that, besides being used for the purpose 
named, it frequently flnds its way into the constitution of the loaf, while 
it affords an opportunity of adulterating without appearing upon the face 
of it to do so. 

Flour is one of the most useful alimentary materials at our disposal, 
and is turned to account in a variety of ways. It is not consumed in the 
raw state. Puddings, pastry, cakes, bread, biscuits, and other variously 
named articles of less note, are made from it. Bread and biscuits, about 
which more will be said farther on, are both nutritive and digestible. 
Cakes, besides flour, contain butter, eggs, sugar, and sometimes other 
adjuncts. They are rich, and apt to upset the stomach. Pastry, on ac- 
count of the effect of the oven on the fatty matter present, is also apt to 
give rise to stomach derangement. Puddings (flour-puddings only are 
here spoken of) are not objectionable in the same way, but are, neverthe- 
less trying to the digestive powers. Being of a more or less close con- 
sistence, they offer considerable resistance to the penetration and action 
of the gastric juice, and thus may engage the stomach for some time in 
the process of digestion, and give rise during the while to the sensation 
which is well known to be occasioned by an indigestible substance, and 
which is described as a sense of weight or heaviness at the stomach. 

J^ahed flour. — Flour, after exposure to heat, is more digestible than 
when in the raw state. The starch-granules become ruptured, and a 
portion of the starch transformed into dextrine. The albumen is acted 
upon, and converted into the coagulated form. It is hence advantageous 
that flour should be consumed (as it only is) after having been subjected 
in some way or other to the influence of heat. It is sometimes prepared 
for use by simply putting it into a basin, introducing it into an oven, and 
baking. Another process, acting in a similar way, is to place it in a 
basin, tie it over with a cloth, and immerse it in a saucepan of water kept 
boiling for some time. The water does not penetrate, but from the effect 
of the heat the flour collects into a hard, solid mass, which requires to be 
scraped or grated for use. Thus prepared, it is often employed as an 
article of food for infants. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTAI^CES. 149 

Bread. — Of all articles of vegetable food, bread must be considered 
as the most important to us. It constitutes a product of art, and 
amongst all civilized people the process of manufacture is known and put 
into practice, evidently on account of the favorable state in which the ele- 
ments of food are placed for undergoing digestion. It is only from some 
kinds of grain that bread can be made, and no bread is equal to that pre- 
pared from wheaten grain. The amount of gluten present, for which 
this kind of grain is distinguished, gives it the property required for 
yielding a light and spongy form of bread, and it is to this lightness or 
sponginess that bread owes its easy digestibility; for, according to its 
porosity so is the facility with which it is penetrated and acted upon by 
the secretion of the stomach. 

The first requisite toward the manufacture of bread is that the grain 
should be reduced to a pulverized condition. By the ordinary process it 
is ground in a whole state and converted into meal. This may be used 
for making bread — as is the case in what we call " brown bread " — but, 
as a rule, the flour is separated and this only employed. Other processes 
have been proposed, with the view of obtaining a larger yield of flour. To 
some extent thepla^i has been adopted of decorticating the grain and then 
reducing- the remainder into flour. Bv such a method some of the inner 
lavers of the tegumentary portion are retained with the farinaceous sub- 
stance of the centre. There is also " whole-wheat flour " to be obtained. 
The bran, after separation, is ground and then mixed wdth the flour, for it 
does not answer to attempt to thoroughly reduce the whole together. It 
seems that the starch-granules ought not to be broken up, and that by 
too much crushing or friction they become damaged, thereby leading to 
a bad flour for bread-making purposes being produced. "When too closely 
ground, bakers speak of the flour as " killed," from its virtue being found 
to be partially destroyed. The avowed object of deviating from the old- 
fashioned plan is to give the flour, and consequently the bread made from 
it, a higher nutritive value, the outside part of the grain being that which, 
as previously stated, is richest in nitrogenous, fatty, and mineral matters. 
Liebig expatiates strongly — particularly on account of the loss of phos- 
phates — upon the ill-judged custom of preferring white bread. It is true, 
if bread were our sole article of sustenance, the rejection of the princi- 
ples contained in the outer part of the grain would be a serious error in 
dietetics; but if other food be taken which furnishes a free supply of 
them, as is actually the case with a mixed diet, there is nothing to condemn 
as erroneous. It must not be considered, because we do not consume the 
bran and pollard of the meal ourselves, that their constituents are thereby 
wasted or lost to us. Employed, as such articles are, as food for other 
animals, we may in reality, although indirectly, get their elements in as- 
sociation with other matter. Looked at in this way, it being granted that 
animal food is taken, we are at liberty, if our inclination so dispose us, 
without incurring any charge of wastefulness, to select one part of the 
grain for ourselves and allow the other to pass to the lower animals. 
Whether the result of habit or not, it must certainly be owned that, with 
the generality of persons, bread made from ordinary flour is more pleasing 
to the eye and agreeable to the ]3alate than bread made from the whole 
constituents of the grain. 

Bread is a firm and porous substance, which is easy of mastication, 
and which, whilst preserving a certain amount of moisture, is not wet or 
clammy. To convert flour or meal into a substance of this kind consti- 
tutes the art of bread-making. A paste or dough is made by manipula- 



150 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

tion, eitherby kneading with the hands or by machinery, with the requisite 
quantity of water. Porosity is given by intimate incorporation with car- 
bonic acid gas — either generated within, as by fermentation, or the use of 
one or other form of "baking-powder;" or supplied from without, as by 
Dr. Dauglish's process. Tlie gluten present, by virtue of its tenacity, 
holds the vesicles of gas and allows a spongy mass to be formed. Whilst 
in this state, solidification is effected by the aid of heat applied in the 
process of baking, and thus is formed a permanently vesiculated or por- 
ous article. Such, in a few words, constitutes the rationale of the process 
of bread-making. 

When the carbonic acid gas is generated by fermentation, the product 
is called "leavened bread," but there is no material difference between 
bread formed in this way and that produced by the other processes. Va- 
rious kinds of ferment are employed, as, for instance, brewer''s yeast or 
barm; German yeast; baker's or patent yeast, which is prepared from an 
infusion of malt and hops set into fermentation by a little brewer's or Ger- 
man yeast, and added to some boiled and mashed potatoes mixed with 
flour, to feed the growth of the ferment and increase the product; or 
leaven, which is old douorh in a state of fermentation. In each case the 
active agent of the ferment — that is, the growing vegetable cells form- 
ing the yeast-fungus, or Torula cerevisice — effects the conversion of sugar 
into alcohol and carbonic acid gas. This takes place at the expense of the 
sugar contained in, and derived from, the starch of the flour, but in baker's 
yeast the potato introduced furnishes additional material for the growth 
of the Torula. Used in this way, the potato is not to be looked upon 
in the light of an adulterant. 

The usual practice in making bread by fermentation is to mix a cer- 
tain quantity of the flour with the ferment, some salt, and lukewarm 
water. These are kneaded into a stiff paste or dough, which is placed 
aside in a warm situation for an hour or two. The mass gradually swells 
up from the evolution of carbonic acid gas, or, as the baker terms it, the 
sponge rises. When the sponge is in active fermentation it is thoroughly 
kneaded with the remainder of the flour, salt, and water, and again set 
aside for a few hours in a warm situation. Fermentation extends through- 
out the whole, and at the proper moment the dough is made into loaves 
and introduced into the oven. Herein constitutes some of the chief points 
in the baker's art. Unless fermentation has been allowed to proceed far 
enough, a heavy loaf is the result; and if allowed to proceed too far, an 
objectionable quality is given to the bread by the commencement of an- 
other, viz., the acid fermentation. Time also must not be allowed for the 
dough to sink before being made into loaves and baked. Under the in- 
fluence of the heat of the oven an expansion of the entangled vesicles of 
gas ensues, and occasions a considerable further rising of the dough; and 
with the subsequent setting of the substance of the loaf a permanently 
vesiculated mass is formed. 

A special aroma or flavor is communicated to the bread by the differ- 
ent kinds of ferment. The best flavored bread, I am informed by an ex- 
perienced West-end baker, is made with the employment of brewer's 
yeast. 

Instead of by fermentation, vesiculation may be effected by carbonic 
acid gas disengaged by incorporating carbonate of soda or ammonia with 
the dough, and adding muriatic, tartaric, or phosphoric acid. " Baking- 
powders " act in this way, and consist for the most part of tartaric acid 
and carbonate of soda as their ba§is. The employment of this process in- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTAKCES. 151 

volves no loss of any portion of the flour, but it does not produce an 
agreeably tasted bread, and has not been therefore found to supersede 
the old process of fermentation. 

Another plan for vesiculating bread has been recently introduced, and 
is known as Dr. Dauglish's process, the product being called " aerated 
bread." The flour is introduced into a strong, air-tight iron receiver, and 
afterward mixed by mechanical means with water impregnated with car- 
bonic acid gas under a high pressure. Through an opening below, which 
can be enclosed when the operation of mixing is complete, the dough is 
forced out by the pressure existing within, and with a suitable contriv- 
ance may be received and conveyed, under the form of loaves, to the ove<n, 
without being touched by the hands. Vesiculation is produced by the 
expansion of the carbonic acid gas with which the dough is throughout 
intimately incorporated — such expansion occurring with the removal of 
the pressure; and, still further, from exposure to the heat of the oven. 
This process, it will be seen, involves the employment only of the three 
essential ingredients of bread — flour, water, and carbonic acid gas; but, 
as with other kinds of bread, some salt is also added. Nothing occurs to 
produce a change of any portion of the flour, except such as is induced 
by the action of the heat in baking. The product represents the purest 
form of bread, if simplicity of composition is to be taken as a criterion. 
As regards taste, however, it possesses, without there being anything 
objectionable, a distinct character of its own, and there is an absence o£ 
the asfreeable flavor belono-ino; to 2;ood bread of the fermented kind. It 
may be remarked that it keeps sweet and good much longer than fer- 
mented bread. 

In the manufacture of bread a certain amount of salt is generally 
added. It improves the flavor, and gives greater whiteness and firmness 
to the article. 

Alum, also, if it is not now, owing to the stringency of a recent Act 
of Parliament, was formerly frequently employed; but this constitutes 
an imposition, for the object of its use is to cause bread made from bad 
or deteriorated flour to resemble that made from good. It aifords no 
advantage in the case of good flour, but enables bread to be made from 
flour that could not otherwise be used. It checks, it is said, an excess of 
fermentation, to which there is a tendency with bad flour; augments the 
whiteness of the product; and, by strengthening — that is, giving in- 
creased consistence or tenacity to — the gluten, favors the production of a 
light and firm loaf. Such are described as the effects of alum on bread; 
but the question maybe asked: Is such bread to be considered as whole- 
some ? In the first jDlace, alum, or whatever it may be changed into or 
whatever the combination formed with the flour under the aijencv of the 
heat employed in baking, is not a natural article for ingestion. Its prop- 
erties are not such as to be likely to occasion any immediate or strong 
effect, and it cannot be said that a deleterious action is to be brought 
home to it in a precise or definite manner; but it is believed to be capa- 
ble of producing dyspepsia and constipation. " Whatever doubts," says 
Pereira,* '' may be entertained regarding the ill effects of alum on the 
healthy stomach, none can exist as to its injurious influence in cases of 
dyspepsia." It is possible, where ill effects have been assigned to alum, 
that they may have been sometimes due to the bad quality of the flour, 
which the alum has been used to dis2:uise. 

* Treatise on Food and Diet, p. 311. 1843. 



152 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Lime-water, it is asserted, substituted for a portion of the water used 
in making the dough, may be employed with advantage, instead of alum, 
for improving the product from an inferior quality of flour. 

The amount of bread produced from a given quantity of flour varies with 
the amount of water present. " Bread," sa3's Dr. Letheby,* " should not 
contain more than 36 to 38 per cent, of water, and the other constituents, 
excepting salt, should be the same as of good flour. 

"In practice, 100 pounds of flour will make from 133 to 137 pounds 
of bread, a good average being 136; so that a sack of flour of 280 pounds 
should yield ninety-five four-pound [quartern] loaves. The art of the 
baker, however, is to increase this quantity, and he does it by hardening 
the gluten through the agency of a little alum, or by means of a gummy 
mixture of boiled rice, three or four pounds of which will, when boiled 
for two or three hours in as many gallons of water, make a sack of flour 
yield 100 four-pound loaves. But the bread is dropsical, and gets soft 
and sodden at the base, where it stands." 

An evaporation of water occurs, and causes bread to lose weight on 
keeping. The loss proceeds most actively whilst hot from the oven, and 
the baker sometimes endeavors to check it by throwing sacks, or some- 
thing of the kind, over the loaves; but the crust thereby suffers in crisp- 
ness. 



Composition of Bread (Letheby's table). 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Carbohydrates, . 
Fat matter. 
Mineral matter, . 
Water, 



8.1 

51.0 

1.6 

2.3 

37.0 

100.0 



New bread is selected by many in preference to stale. It is, however, 
much less digestible, and where weakness of stomach exists, is apt to ex- 
cite derangement. It is its lightness or porosity which gives to bread its 
property of easy digestibility, and with stale bread its firmness and fria- 
bility allow this porosity to be maintained during reduction by mastica- 
tion. The softness of new bread, on the other hand, renders it difficult 
of mastication, and at the same time favors its clogging together into a 
heavy and close mass, which, on arrival in the stomach, will be far less 
easilj^ penetrated and acted upon by the digestive juice. By heating for 
a short time in an oven, stale bread may be again brought into the soft 
condition of new, and will remain in this state for some hours. After 
being thus rebaked, however, it soon undergoes change and becomes 
unjDalatable. 

Besides its physical condition, which renders bread a digestible article 
of food, the effect of the heat which has been employed in baking is to 
increase the digestibility of the constituents of the llour. The state of 
the nitrogenous compounds becomes altered, the starch-granules rup- 
tured, and some of the starch transformed into dextrine and sugar. 

The difference in the nutritive value of brown bread as compared with 
white has been already referred to {vide p. 149). From the presence of 
the indigestible particles of bran, brown bread acts to some extent as an 

* Lectures on Food, p. 13. 1870. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 153 

irritant, and thereby stimulates the secreting structures and the muscular 
walls of the alimentary canal. Hence, the service which it renders to 
persons, particularly those of sedentary habits, suffering- from constipa- 
tion. In irritable states of the alimentary canal it should be avoided; 
and, in the case of those who work hard or take much exercise, it may 
prove the source of diarrhoea. 

Toast. — It is a frequent practice to cut bread into slices, and subject 
it to toasting, and the digestibility is thereby increased. Water is driven 
off, a little scorching of the surface occurs, and greater firmness is ac- 
quired. The toasting should be conducted so that crispness is imparted 
throughout the whole thickness of the slice. If the slice be thick, and a 
mere scorching of the surface be induced, the action of the heat will give 
increased softness to the centre (just as rebaking renders stale bread like 
new) and make it less digestible than the bread from which it was pre- 
pared. Buttered toast, like any article saturated with fatty matter, offers 
considerable resistance to digestion, and is exceedingly apt to disagree 
where delicacy of stomach exists. 

Musks. — These consist of tea-cakes, which are made from flour, butter, 
milk, and sugar, cut into slices, and the slices placed on tins and intro- 
duced for a few minutes into a sharp oven. They are turned so as to 
produce a little scorching of both surfaces, and afterward put into a dry- 
ing" oven for three or four hours in order to drive off all the moisture. 

Pulled bread. — For making pulled bread the crum^) of a new loaf — 
the crust being sacrificed for the purpose — is torn or drawn out with the 
hands, and treated exactly in the same way as rusks. It constitutes a 
very digestible form of bread, and is well adapted for the dyspeptic. 

Tojys and bottoms. — Tops and bottoms are pretty largely used as 
food for infants. They are made in the same way as rusks; the form, 
indeed, constitutes the only essential difference between the two. Small, 
square-shaped cakes are, in the first place, made like the tea-cake, from 
flour, butter, milk, and sugar, but usually with rather less of the last in- 
gredient. These are then cut in half — hence the name, tops and bottoms 
— and baked and dried. 

3Iuffins. — Flour, water, and yeast are mixed into a liquid paste or 
batter. This is poured into a hoop resting on a hot tin and baked. For 
eating they are cut in half, toasted, and buttered. 

Crurapets. — The only difference betw^een muffins and crumpets is, that 
the latter are half the thickness of the former. They are toasted and 
buttered whole for the table. Both are very trying articles to the 
stomach. 

Cracknels. — The process for making cracknels is somew^hat peculiar. 
A dough is formed, composed of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar, and rolled 
into sheets. They are then cut into the appropriate shape, and put into 
boiling water. They sink, and become hardened by the coagulation of 
the albumen that occurs. In the course of a little time they expand, and, 
becoming lighter, rise to the surface, and are skimmed off. They are then 
immersed in cold water, and afterward placed in tins, and baked in a 
sharp oven. 

Ginger-bread. — The ingredients of ginger-bread are flour, treacle, 
butter, alum, and common potashes. Its porosity or lightness is due to 
the liberation of carbonic acid from the last-named substance by the 
glucic and melassic acids of the treacle. By some makers, ground ginger 
or sliced candied orange-peel is introduced. Additional lightness is also 
sometimes given by the employment of some form of baking-powder. 



154 



A TEEAtlSE ON F06d AISTD DIETETICS. 



JBiscuits. — Biscuits are a useful wheaten product, on account of their 
property of keeping, which is owing to their being dried as well as baked. 
Some biscuits are made from flour and water only, or flour, water, and a 
very little butter to diminish the hard and flinty character which they 
otherwise possess. Such is the composition of sailors' biscuits, and noth- 
ing is employed to give them lightness. Other biscuits are made with 
the addition of milk, and some with the addition of sugar also; and light- 
ness may be given either by a baking-powder or the carbonate of ammo- 
nia, which, being a volatile salt, is dissipated with the heat of the oven, 
and in escaping raises the dough. There are also various fancy biscuits, 
each kind containing, in addition to the ordinary ingredients, some special 
article. Plain biscuits constitute an easily digestible form of food. Bis- 
cuit-powder is often advantageously used in combination with milk where 
solid food cannot be borne. It also furnishes an excellent and nourishing 
form of food for infants. 

Passover cakes belong to the biscuit class. They may be looked upon, 
in reality, as a very thin kind of biscuit, and are composed only of flour 
and water. 

Stale biscuits, on being moistened and rebaked, are restored, like stale 
bread, to the condition of new. 



Composition of Biscuit (Letheby's table). 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Carbohydrates, . 
Fatty matter. 
Mineral matter, . 
Water, 



15.6 

73.4 

1.3 

1.7 

8.0 

100.0 



Semolina. — This substance forms a granular preparation of the heart 
of the wheat-grain. It is made from the hard wheats, which are rich in 
gluten. The grinding is performed with the mill-stones sufficiently apart 
to leave the product in a granular form, instead of reducing it to the 
state of flour. It forms a digestible and nourishing article of food, and 
is useful for adding to broths, soups, milk, etc. It likewise may be made 
into a light and nutritious pudding. 

Soiijee and Manna-croup are also names by which this granular prep- 
aration of wheat is known. The Semoule of the French is likewise of 
the same nature. It constitutes the coarse, hard granules which are a 
product of the grinding of the hard wheats, and are retained in the bolt- 
ing machine after the fine flour has passed through. On account of the 
resistance which the hard wheats offer to reduction, these granules have 
escaped being crushed between the mill-stones. As the product fetches 
a higher price than flour, the skilful miller so adjusts his mill-stones as 
to obtain as large an amount as possible. 

The Kous-hous, Couscous^ or Couscousou, of the Arabs, which forms 
a national food in Algeria, further constitutes a granular preparation of 
wheat. It is cooked and eaten in a variety of ways. 

3Iacaroni, Vermicelli, and Italian or Cagliari paste. — Italian wheat 
and some other kinds which are rich in gluten are employed for making 
the above-named preparations, which are consumed very largely in Italy. 
The flour is made into a stiff paste with hot water, and then pressed 



ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES. 155 

through holes or moulds in a metal plate, or else stamped so as to give the 
desired form, and afterwards dried. They are all highly nutritious, but 
from their closeness, where much thickness of substance exists, as, for 
example, with pipe macaroni, are not so easy of digestion" as many other 
of the wheaten preparations. 

Such are the alimentary products of wheat in ordinary use amongst 
us. Wholesome and most useful articles under ordinary circumstances, 
they sometimes acquire properties which render them obnoxious, upon 
which point a few remarks will now be offered. 

Wheat is liable to be attacked by the weevil, a little insect which con- 
sumes the farinaceous centre of the grain. The Acarus farince, or flour 
mite, a microscopic animalcule, may also be encountered. Beyond dete- 
riorating the wheat for alimentary purposes, however, it cannot be said 
that any harm is produced by these animals. 

Certain low forms of parasitic vegetable growth also become developed 
upon wheat. There is the rust, or smut, with which the wheat of our 
own country is frequently liable to be attacked. This gives unpleasant 
characters to the flour and bread, but has not been ascertained to produce 
an}" specific deleterious effects upon the animal system. In some localities 
abroad, the cereal grains, and amongst them occasionally wheat, but 
most particularly rye, become infested with a species of fungus, which 
grows in such a way as to present the appearance of a spur. What is 
alluded to here is the ergotlzed or spurred-corn, which is well known to 
exert a poisonous action upon animal beings, the symptoms produced 
being of a two-fold nature, viz., those of deranged nervous action, ter- 
minating fatally, it may be, in convulsions, on the one hand; and of de- 
fective nutrition, attended with dry gangrene of the extremities, on the 
other. 

In connection with this subject, it maybe mentioned that wheat and 
other corn may be rendered poisonous by the accidental presence of the 
seeds of the Lolium temulentum, ®r Darnel grass, which has been allowed 
by the slovenly farmer to overrun his fields. Christison * says the Lolium 
temidentiun is the only poisonous species of the natural order of the 
grasses. The seeds appear to be powerfully narcotic, and at the same 
time to possess acrid properties. " Headache, giddiness, somnolency, 
delirium, convulsions, paralysis, and even death," are effects that have 
been observed to arise from their habitual consumption as an accidental 
ingredient of bread. Vomiting and purging are also symptoms that have 
been sometimes produced. 

It has been suggested that wheat and other grain may possess dele- 
terious properties attribatable to being gathered in an unripe state. 
Local outbreaks of illness have been ascribed to this cause in France. 
Dr. Christison considers that the subject requires further inquiry, and re- 
marks that, although grain is often cut down in an unripe state in various 
districts of our own country, he has never heard that any disease has been 
produced by its consumption. 

Wheat, flour, and bread may pass into an unwholesome state as a re- 
sult of being kept. Under the presence of moisture, they are prone to 
undergo change, and to acquire a more or less strongly marked acid 
character. Bread made from old and bad flour may be quite sour to the 
taste; and, although some persons may become accustomed to such bread, 
and may eat it without any ill consequences arising, yet with others, who 

* On Poisons, 4th edition, p. 944. 1845. 



156 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

are unused to it, it may give rise to severe irritation of the alimentary- 
canal, manifested by gastric derangement, griping, and diarrhoea. Good 
bread is only slightly acid at first, but if kept and allowed to remain 
moist, it becomes decidedly so in the course of a little time. 

Bread also becomes the seat of development of certain species of 
fungi (JPeniciUium o'ldiuni, etc.) — in other words, becomes mouldy — on 
keeping, and the more quickly so in proportion as it contains w^ater. The 
same likewise happens with wheat and flour under the presence of mois- 
ture. The existence of this low form of vegetable growth renders the 
articles pervaded dangerous for use. They are liable to produce injurious 
and even fatal consequences. Dr. Christison states that on the Conti- 
nent repeated instances have occured of severe and even dangerous poi- 
soning by spoiled or mouldy rye-bread, barley-bread, and wheat-bread; 
and that several instances have been observed of horses having been 
killed in a short space of time with symptoms of irritant poisoning by eat- 
ing such bread with their ordinary food. It has further been noticed 
that the consumption of mouldy oats has been followed by fatal conse- 
quences. Dr. Parkes,* quoting from Professor Varnell, states that " six 
horses died in three days from eating mouldy oats; there was a large 
amount of matted mycelium, and this, when given to other horses for 
experiment, killed them in thirty-six hours." 

In cities and towns mouldy bread is rarely, if ever, encountered. The 
daily supply of fresh bread that is provided removes any necessity for 
keeping the article sufficiently long for a state of mouldiness to be ac- 
quired. In outlying rural districts, however, where a batch of bread is 
baked only at somewhat distant periods within the household, time may 
be given before the batch is exhausted for the last of it to become vinny 
or mouldy, a more or less green color being developed, and a ropy 
character produced. 

Biscuits and rusks, on account of their dryness, are not prone, like 
bread, to become unwholesome from mouldiness. 

Oats. — The common oat is derived from Avena sativa. A consider- 
able number of varieties of the plant are cultivated, yielding oats, which 
may be arranged under the two heads of white oats, and red, dun, or 
black oats. Other species of Avena are also cultivated on the Conti- 
nent. Scotland is specially famed for the quality of the oats it pro- 
duces, and here more than half of the cultivated land is devoted to their 
growth. 

As met with in commerce, oats consist of the seeds enclosed in their 
palese or husk. When dej^rived of its integument, the grain goes by the 
name of groats or grits, and these, wdien crushed, constitute Emhden 
groats. They are used for making gruel. 

The husk amounts to from 22 to 28 per cent. The remaining 72 to 78 
per cent, comprises the kernel of the seed. 

Oatmeal constitutes the product of grinding the kiln-dried seeds, de- 
prived of their husk, or outer skin. It is not so white as wheaten-flour, 
and its taste is peculiar, being at first sweet and then rough and some- 
what bitter. It forms the article used for \n2i\img porridge. The Scotch, 
oatmeal is ground coarser than the English, and is th® more esteemed of 
the two. 

In Germany and Switzerland coarsely bruised oatmeal is baked in 



* Practical Hygiene, 3d edition, p. 333. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



157 



an oven until it becomes of a brown color, and is then used to thicken 
broths and soups. 

SotoanSf Seeds, or Flummery, which constitutes a very popular article 
of diet in Scotland and South Wales, is made from the husks of the 
grain. The husks, with the starchy particles adhering to them, are sepa- 
rated from the other parts of the grain and steeped in water for oae or 
two days, until the mass ferments and becomes sourish. It is then 
skimmed, and the liquid boiled down to the consistence of gruel. In 
Wales this food is called sucan. 

JBudrimi is prepared in the same manner, except that the liquid is 
boiled down to a sufficient consistency to form, when cold, a firm jelly. 
This resembles blanc-mange, and constitutes a light, demulcent, and nu- 
tritious article of food, which is well suited for the weak stomach. 

Composition of Oatmeal (from Letheby's table). 

Nitrogenous matter, . . . , . . . 12.6 
Carbohydrates, . 



Fatty matter. 
Saline matter, 
Water, 



63.8 
5.6 
3.0 

15.0 

100.0 



Compositioyi of Dried Oats (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter, . 


. 14.39 


Starch, . ... 


.60.59 


Dextrine, etc., .... 


. 9.25 


Fatty matter, .... 


. 5.50 


Cellulose, , . . 


. 7.06 


Mineral matter, .... 


. 3.25 



100.00 

The nitrogenous matter of the oat is formed chiefly of a principle al- 
lied to caseine, called avenine, which may be thus obtained : Let oat- 
meal be washed on a sieve, and the milky liquid which runs through be 
allowed to repose to deposit the suspended starch-granules. The super- 
natant liquid, on being heated to 200° Fahr., throws down albumen, and 
then, on the addition of acetic acid, a white precipitate falls, which con- 
stitutes avenine. 

On account of the absence of gluten, oatmeal cannot be vesiculated 
and made into bread, like wheaten-flour. It is devoid of the tenacity or 
adhesiveness which is requisite to hold the vesicles of gas and give por- 
osity or lightness to the mass. It is, however, made into thin cakes, by 
mixing into a paste with water, and then baking on an iron plate. Under 
this form it is consumed as a staple food by a large number of the inhabi- 
tants of Scotland (which is called, in consequence, "the land of cakes"), 
and also of the North of England. 

Besides being eaten in this way, oatmeal is also consumed as porridge 
or stirabout, as beef- and kale-brose, and likewise as gruel. 

Porridge is made by simply stirring the oatmeal into boiling water 
until it becomes of the consistence of hasty pudding. The water is kept 
boiling until the process is finished. It is usually flavored with either 
salt or sugar, and is frequently eaten with milk or treacle. 



158 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

SrosG differs from porridge in not being boiled over the fire. Seef- 
hrose is made by stirring the oatmeal into the hot liquor in which meat has 
been boiled. Kale-hrose is similarly made from the liquor in which cab- 
bage, or kale, has been boiled. 

Gruel is consumed in a liquid or semi-liquid form. It is prepared by 
first mixing groats with a little cold water, then pouring in the requisite 
quantity of boiling water, and afterward boiling for ten minutes and 
well stirring all the while. 

Oats form an important and valuable article of food. With a propor- 
tion of nitrogenous matter which bears a favorable comparison with that 
of wheat, they stand next to maize amongst the cultivated cereals in the 
amount of fatty matter that is present. The percentage of saline matter 
is also high. "Oatmeal," says Dr. Cullen, "is especially the food of the 
people of Scotland; and was formerly that of the northern parts of Eng- 
land—counties which have always produced as healthy and as vigorous a 
race of men as any in Europe." Scotch oatmeal is considered preferable 
to English. It possesses higher nutritive value. 

Oatmeal enjoys the reputation of exerting a slightly laxative action, 
and Dr. Christison remarks that he has in several instances found it of 
service in relieving habitual constipation, upon being taken at breakfast 
in the form of porridge. It is apt to disagree with some dyspeptics, hav- 
ing a tendency to produce acidity and p3"rosis, and cases have been no- 
ticed amongst those who have been in the daily habit of consuming it, 
where dyspeptic symptoms have subsided upon temporarily abandoning 
its use. 

Intestinal concretions, composed of phosphate of lime, agglutinated 
animal matter, and the small, stiff, silky hairs existing at one end of the 
oat, with small fragments of the husk, were formerly of not uncommon 
occurrence as a result of the habitual consumption of oatmeal-food. Such 
concretions, however, are now rarely met with, on account, it is believed, 
of the oats being piore thoroughly deprived of their husk and better 
cleaned than formerly. 

Barley. — Barley is obtained from several species of Hordeum, the 
favorite being Hordeum distichon, or common summer barley of Eng-^ 
land, of which several varieties are cultivated. It is met with in com- 
merce as a grain, enclosed in the paleae or husk. The product, when the 
whole grain is ground, forms barley-meal. 

Scotch, milled, or 2^ot barley, constitutes the grain deprived of its husk 
bv a mill. 

Pearl barley is the grain deprived of the husk, and rounded and pol- 
ished by attrition. 

Patent barley forms the product derived from grinding pearl barley to 
the state of flour. 



Composition of Parley-meal (from Letheby's table). 
Nitrogenous matter, . 



Carbohydrates, . 
Fatty matter, 
Saline matter, . 
Water, 



6.3 

74.3 
2.4 
2.0 

15.0 

100.0 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 159 

In the composition of barley, as given by Payen, a marked discord- 
ancy with the above exists as regards the nitrogenous matter, the quan- 
tity of which, as will be seen by the following figures, is represented as 
rather more than double: 

* 



Composition of Dried Barley (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Starch, . 
Dextrine, etc., 
Fatty matter, . 
Cellulose, 
Mineral matter, 



12.06 
66.43 
10.00 

2.76 
4.75 
3.10 

100.00 



The nitrogenous matter of barley exists under the form of albumen 
and caseine. There is little or no gluten, and hence, like oatmeal, it can- 
not be made into a vesiculated bread. Barley-bread is, therefore, usually 
made by mixing wheaten-flour with the meal. Barley-cakes are eaten 
on the score of economy in some of the agricultural districts of England, 
Scotland, and Ireland, and in the north of Europe, but form a much less 
palatable food than that derived from wheaten-flour. They are also less 
digestible, and are regarded as possessing rather laxative properties. 
They certainly appear to constitute an unsuitable food in disordered con- 
ditions of the alimentary canal. 

Barley-water is prepared from pearl barley, and forms a useful demul- 
cent and slightly nutritive liquid for the sick-room. 

Malt is the product yielded when barley has been allowed to germi- 
nate, and the germination has been stopped at a certain point by subject- 
ing the grain to heat in a kiln. As a result of the process, a peculiar 
active nitrogenous principle, called diastase, is developed, which has the 
power of effecting the conversion of starch into dextrine and sugar; and, 
through this, malt differs from barley in a portion of the starch being 
represented by sugar. 

Malt infused in hot water yields Sweet-wort, which is rich in saccharine 
matter. This is used for makins: beer. Malt is also used to some extent 
as food for cattle, and is thought; to be more easy of assimilation than the 
unmalted grain, but experience has not shown that it possesses higher 
fattening properties. 

Malt forms one of the ingredients of Liebig'^s Food for Infants, which 
has been introduced as a substitute for woman's milk. The article has 
been referred to at p. 122, under the head of milk. 

Rye. — The common rye, or Secale cereale, is cultivated extensively on 
the Continent, but is little grown in England. It is of a hardy nature, 
and is usually sown in ground where the soil is too poor for wheat to 
grow. 

In external appearance the rye-grain presents a closer resemblance to 
wheat than any of the other cereals. It is, however, darker in color and 
smaller in size. In the centre the grain is white and farinaceous, but to- 
ward the exterior it is brownish. As met with in commerce, it is de- 
prived of the palefe or husk, as in the case of wheat. It is ground, and 
used under the form of rye-meal. 



160 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Cddiposition of Rye-meal (from Letheby's table). 



Nitrogenous matter, ...... 


. 8.0 


Carbohydrates, . . . . . 


. 73.2 


Fatty matter, ...... 


. 2.0 


Saline m'atter, ....... 


. 1.8 


Water, . . . . . . . . 


. 15.0 




100.0 


Composition of Dried Rye (Payen). 




Nitrogenous matter, . 


. 12.50 


Starch, . , . . . . . . 


. 64.65 


Dextrine, etc., . . . . . . 


. 14.90 


Fatty matter, ....... 


. 2.25 


Cellulose, . . . 


. 3.10 


Mineral matter, ....... 


. 2.60 



100.00 

The nitrogenous matter of rye consists of fibrine, glutine, and albu- 
men. From the nature of its nitrogenous matter, rye approaches nearer 
to wheat than the other cereal grains in the aptitude of its flour for 
making" a vesiculated bread. 

Rye-bread was once a common article of food in England. It forms 
the dark-colored and sour-tasting bread which is still extensively used in 
the North of Europe. It may be spoken of as filling the place of wheaten- 
bread in temperate countries where poverty prevails and agriculture is 
the least advanced; and in some parts of Belgium, Holland, Prussia, 
Germany, Russia, and other countries in the north, rye-bread is found to 
constitute the staple food of the people. 

Rye-bread falls but little short of wheaten-bread in nutritive value. 
Its color and acid taste, however, render it disrelishable to those who are 
unaccustomed to it, and it is only necessity that leads to its consumption. 
Moreover, it is apt to occasion diarrhoea, but custom soon overcomes this 
eifect. On account of its laxative action, it is sometimes taken to coun- 
teract habitual constipation. Rye is imported into England for malting, 
and is so made use of by distillers. 

JErgotized or Spurred Rye. — The cereals are subject to become the seat 
of growth of a parasitic fungus, which gives to the grain deleterious pro- 
perties; and, of all of them, rye is the most prone to be attacked in this 
■way. The affected grain undergoes development, so as to project con- 
siderably beyond the husk, and it may attain upward of four times its 
size in the ordinary state. On account of this excessive growth, it can 
be separated by sifting from the unaffected seed, and, unless this is done 
to an ergotized crop, serious consequences may arise from its consumption 
as food. At various times, indeed, the inhabitants of different parts of 
the Continent have been stricken with fatal illness from this cause. Two 
classes of symptoms are produced, denominated the conv^dsive and gan- 
grenous forms of ergotism. In the one, the phenomena consist of weari- 
ness, giddiness, contraction of the muscles of the extremities, formication, 
dimness of sight, loss of sensibility, voracious appetite, yellow counte- 
nance, and convulsions, followed by death; in the other, there is also 
formication, that is, a feeling as if insects were creeping over the skin, 
and voracious appetite, and with this there occur coldness and insensi- 
bility of the extremities, followed by gangrene (Pereira). 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



161 



IxDiAiS" CoKX OR Maize. — The common maize, or Indian corn [Zea 
mays), is a native of tropical America, and is now extensively cultivated 
in the United States, Africa, Asia, Southern Europe, Germany, and Ire- 
land. 

There are many varieties of the plant, as well as a distinct and smaller 
species, named Zea curagua, which forms the Chili maize or Valparaiso 
corn. 

The grains of maize are variously colored, but those most commonly 
met with are yellow. The ears when nearly full-grown, and whilst in a 
succulent state, are a favorite delicacy in North x^imerica, where they are 
boiled, and the grain eaten with salt and butter, or cut off and cooked 
with beans, forming " succotash." The succulent grains, indeed, may be 
made to take the place of young peas, and are available for the table when 
the season for peas is over. When the ears are allowed to ripen, and the 
grains are afterward deprived of their hull and broken, or coarsely ground, 
preparations are produced known as hominy, sainp, or grits, according to 
the size to which they are reduced. They are boiled in water, and eaten 
like rice. 

A small variety of maize, with translucent and deeply colored grains, 
is specially denominatedjK)<9;>cor;i. The grains possess the property, when 
gently roasted, of bursting, turning inside out, and swelling to many 
times their original size. In this condition they are sometimes sold in 
London, and eaten by children as a delicacy, whilst in America they are 
consumed at table with a little salt. 

Maize or Indian corn-meal is not adapted for making bread, on account 
of its deficiency in gluten, without the admixture of wheaten or rye-flour. 
The common brown bread of New Eno-land is made from a mixture of rve- 
and maize-meal. Used alone, maize-meal, like oatmeal and barley-meal, 
is made into a cake, and this, when roasted, is called in Spanish America 
^^ tortilla^ In the United States it is called ^^ johnny-cake,'''' ^'hoe-cake,'''' 
'■^ pone^'' or " Indian hread.^'* It is also frequently made into liquid dough 
and baked in thin cakes. 

Maize-meal is consumed in Ireland and some other places principally 
in the form of porridge, which goes by the name of ^^ polenta'''' in Italy, 
and ^^ mush'''' in North America. Polenta is also the name applied to the 
maize-meal of the shops. Maize-porridge made with milk is a favorite 
food in British Honduras, where it forms what is called " corn loh.^'' 

The flavor of maize is harsh and peculiar, and disagreeable to those 
who have been unaccustomed to it. Treating the meal with a weak solu- 
tion of caustic soda deprives it of this unpleasantness. It also, however, 
removes some of the nitrogenous matter, and thus robs it of a portion of 
its nutritive value. Such constitutes the foundation of the process for 
preparing the articles so extensively sold and used under the names of 
Oswego flour, Maizena, and Corn-flour. 



Composition of Indian Corn-meal (Letheby's table). 



Nitrogenous matter, . 


. 11.1 


Carbohydrates, .... 


. 65.1 


Fatty matter, .... 


. 8.1 


Saline matter, .... 


. 1.7 


"Water, . . . . . 


. 14.0 



100.0 



11 



162 



A TREATISE OlS" FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Composition of Dried Maize (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter, 




. 12.50 


Starch, ...... 




67.55 


Dextrine, etc., ..... 




. 4.00 


Fatty matter, ..... 




8.80 


Cellulose, ...... 




. 5.90 


Mineral matter, .... 




1.25 



100.00 



Whilst containing" an average amount of nitrogenous matter, maize is 
characterized and distinguished, as is shown by the above analyses, from 
the other cerealia by the large amount of fatty matter present. As regards 
this quality, none of the other cerealia exhibit even an approach to it. 
On account of the fatty matter present, maize acquires, on keeping for 
some time, an unpleasant rancid taste, from the usual change induced by 
exposure to air. 

Containing, as it does, about the same percentage of nitrogenous 
matter as soft wheat, and upward of four times the amount of fatty 
matter, maize stands in a high position as regards alimentary value. It 
is largely used both for feeding and fattening animals; and its fattening 
properties, as explained by its composition, are superior to the other cere- 
als. It is with maize that the Strasbourg geese are crammed for the pro- 
duction of the '"'' foie gras^ Properly prepared, it furnishes a wholesome, 
digestible, and nutritious food for man; but with those, it is said, who 
have been unaccustomed to its use, it is apt to excite a tendency to 
diarrhoea. It is the chief food of the slaves in Brazil, as it was of those 
in the United States, and is largely eaten in Mexico and Peru, and by the 
Indians of New Spain. Since its introduction into Europe, it has in some 
districts superseded other grains, and it is said that twice as much maize 
is eaten in Piedmont as wheat-flour. In Ireland it has to a considerable 
extent taken the place of the potato. 

Rice. — The common rice, or Oryza sativa, is extensively cultivated 
in India, China, and most other Eastern Countries, the West Indies, 
Central America, and the United States, and also in some of the Southern 
countries of Europe. It is said to supply the principal food of nearly 
one-third of the human race. 

There is a large nurnber of varieties of the plant cultivated, and con- 
siderably more than one hundred different kinds are grown in India and 
Ceylon. The best rice imported into this country is brought from Caro- 
lina and Patna. The fields in which rice is raised, called paddy fields, are 
periodically flooded with water, as the plant requires a constantly wet 
soil for its growth. Before ripening, the water is drained off, and the 
crop is cut with a sickle. 

Paddy is the name given to the seed when enclosed in the palere or 
husk. This husk adheres very closely, and care has to be exercised to 
enable its removal to be effected without damasrinor or breakino^ the 
grain. Special machinery is employed for the purpose. After the husk 
has been removed, the grain is passed through a whitening machine, in 
order to remove the inner cuticle, or red skin. When this has been ac- 
^complished, the product forms the rice met with in the shops. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



163 



Rice is consumed as food, both in the state of grain and ground into 
flour. 



Composition of Mice (from Letheby's table). 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Carbohydrates, . 
Fatty matter, 
Saline matter, . 
Water, 



Composition of Dried Rice (Payen). 



6.3 

79.5 
0.7 
0.5 

13.0 

100.0 



Nitrogenous matter, . 

Starch, ..... 


. 7.55 
. 88.65 


Dextrine, etc., .... 


. 1.00 


Fatty matter, .... 
Cellulose, ..... 


. 0.80 
. 1.10 


Mineral matter, 


. 0.90 



100.0 



Rice is characterized by the large proportion of starch, and the small 
proportions of nitrogenous, fatty, and mineral matter it contains. In 
composition it must be looked upon as presenting considerable analogy 
to the potato. 

Rice, like the potato, is largely used for the manufacture of starch. 
The process adopted is to treat the flour with a solution of caustic soda, 
which dissolves out the nitrogenous matter. The starch is then allowed 
to deposit itself, and is afterward washed and dried. From the alkaline 
solution the nitrogenous matter may be recovered, if desired, by the addi- 
tion of an acid. The starch-granules of rice are remarkable for the 
smallness of their size. They form exceedingly minute, irregular-shaped, 
angular particles. 

Rice is too poor in nitrogenous matter, fatty matter, and salts to 
yield alone what is wanted in an aliment, unless consumed in very large 
quantity, thereby sacrificing a considerable portion of its starch. The 
starch, in other words, is out of proportion to the other alimentary 
principles, looked at in relation to the requirements of the system. As- 
sociated with other articles, to compensate for the deficiency in the prin- 
ciples named, rice constitutes an exceedingly valuable food. It has the 
advantage of possessing an easily digestible starch-granule and hence is 
found a useful aliment in disordered states of the alimentary canal. In 
the case of persons suffering from diarrhoea or dysentery, it agrees better 
than any other kind of solid food. It certainly exerts no laxative action, 
as many of the cereals do, and is often regarded, indeed, as having an 
opposite effect, but probably it occupies simply a neutral position in this 
respect. 

Rice is best cooked by thoroughly steaming. If boiled in water it 
loses a portion of the already small quantity of nitrogenous and saline 
matter it contains. It does not admit of being made into bread, but is 
used for mixing with wheaten-flour to furnish the very white bread which 
is in request in Paris. 



164 A TREATISE OIT FOOD AND DIETETICS. "^ 

Millet. — The common millet {^Panicum miliaceum) is a native of the 
East Indies, but is cultivated in the South of Europe and other parts of 
the world. Panicum jumentorum, or Guinea grass, is a native of Africa, 
but is now cultivated in the West Indies and America. There is a very 
large number of varieties of millet, the grain of which is mostly used as 
food for poultry and other domestic animals. It is sometimes made into 
loaves and cakes, and in some places is the principal food of the in- 
habitants. Its nutritive value is said to be about equal to rice. 

Phurra, Phoora, or Sorgho grass [Sorghum), is sometimes called 
Indian millet, but it belongs to a different tribe of grasses from the true 
millets. It is cultivated largely in Asia and Africa, and, to some extent, 
in the South of Europe. The grain is round, and a little larger than a 
mustard-seed. In India it is ground whole and made into bread. The 
bread is said to be very good, and to have been issued to the English 
troops in the last Chinese expedition. Johnston describes the grain as 
quite equal in nutritive value to the average of our English wheats. 
Letheby speaks of it as a little more nutritious than rice, and as contain- 
ing, on an average, about 9 per cent, of nitrogenous matter, with 74 of 
starch and sugar, 2.6 of fat, and 2.3 of mineral matter. 

Manna-grass ( Glyceria, Festuca, or Poa fluitans) constitutes one of 
the meadow-grasses (floating meadow-grass), and j'ields seeds which are 
sometimes consumed as human food. The plant grows plentifully in 
marshes and on the sides of ditches and stagnant waters in most parts of 
Europe, and is also met with in Asia, North America, and Australia. 
It derives its name from the sweet taste which the seeds possess, a char- 
acter which is particularly marked before the plant has attained its full 
growth. In many parts of Poland, Holland, and Germany, the seeds, which 
fall very readily, are collected and used in soups or consumed as gruel 
or puddings. They form a very palatable and nutritious product, and are 
sold under the name of Polish manna, manna seeds, and maiina-croup. 

Buckwheat. — Buckwheat, although not a cereal, may be conveniently 
referred to in connection with the cereal grains. 

The common buckwheat (Fagopyrum escidenttim), belonging to ths 
order PolygonacecE, is a native of Central Asia, and is said to have been 
introduced into Europe either by the Moors or by the Crusaders. In 
France it is called Pie Sarrasin, or Saracen wheat, and in Norfolk and 
Suffolk it goes by the name of hrank. The name buckwheat is a corrup- 
tion of the German Puckweizen (beech-wheat), drawn from its resemblance 
to the seed of the beech-tree. 

The plant grows very quickly, and yields abundantly, but, as it is de- 
stroyed by frost, it cannot be sown until the season for cold weather has 
passed. In England it is principally cultivated for feeding pheasants 
and other game, but in Brittany it is grown in place of wheat. No grain 
is eaten so eagerly by poultry, and it is sometimes given to horses instead 
of oats, or in combination with them. The seed is covered with a hard 
rind, or thin shell, which has to be removed before it is fit for being eaten 
by cattle. 

When used for human food, it is usually consumed as hasty pudding 
or pottage. The flour is fine and white, but devoid of gluten, and, there- 
fore, does not make proper bread. It is used, however, for pastry; and 
thin cakes, which are very good eating, are largely made from it in the 
United States. Crumpets made from buckwheat form a favorite dainty 
with the children in Holland. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



165 



Composition of Buckwheat (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter. 
Starch, etc., 
Fatty matter, 
Cellulose, 
Mineral matter 
Water, 



13.10 

G4.90 
3.00 
3.50 
2.50 

13.00 

100.00 



QuixoA. — Quinoa, like buckwheat, may also be conveniently consid- 
ered in association with the cerealia. 

The quinoa plant ( CJienopodium Quinoa), belonging to the order 
CheiiopodiacecB, which includes our spinach and beet, is a native of the 
high table-lands of Chili and Peru, where it grows at an elevation of 13,- 
000 feet above the level of the sea, a height at which barley and rye fail 
to ripen. There are two varieties of it, viz., the sweet and the bitter. It 
is hardly known in this country, but forms the principal food of the in- 
habitants of the locality in which it grows. The leaves are used as 
spinach, and the grain, called " petty rice," is mixed with soup. Quinoa, 
judging from the subjoined analysis, forms a valuable article of food as 
regards the possession of nutritive ingredients. Its proportion of nitro- 
genous matter is very large. It is also fairly rich in fat, very rich in salts, 
and likewise said to be rich in iron — the richest, indeed, in this respect, 
of any vegetable. It thus appears to possess qualities that might render 
it exceedingly useful, in a therapeutic point of view. Its starch-grains 
are alleged to be the smallest known. The meal can only be made into 
cakes, not into leavened bread. 

Aiialysis of Quinoa (Yoelcker). 





at 212^ Fahr. 


Quinoa flour. 


Nitrogenous matter, 


. 22.86 


19 


Starch, , . . 


. 56.80 


60 


Fatty matter. 


. 5.74 


5 


Vegetable fibre, . 


. 9.53 




Ash, 


. 5.05 




Water, . . . . 




16 



LEGUMINOUS SEEDS, OR PULSES. 

This group of farinaceous seeds, which includes beans, peas, and len- 
tils, is characterized by the large proportion of nitrogenous matter they 
contain. In this respect they stand strikingl}' in advance of the cerealia, 
for the amount may be twice as much as that contained in an ordinary 
kind of wheat. 

The form under which the nitrogenous matter is present is chiefly as 
a substance called legumine, which is a representation of vegetable 
caseine. 

By virtue of their composition, the leguminous seeds possess a high 
nutritive value, and furnish a food which is more satisfying than vege- 



166 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

table food generally to the stomach, and more closely allied in a dietetic 
point of view to the alimentary products supplied by the animal king- 
dom. They thereby furnish an advantageous substitute for animal food 
for those who fast during Lent and on maigre days, and it is probably 
on this account that haricots blanc and lentils are so much more largely 
consumed in France and other Catholic countries than in England. Their 
large amount of nitrogenous matter adapts them for consumption in asso- 
ciation with articles in which starch or fat is a predominating principle. 
With rice, therefore, they form an appropriate combination, and this ad- 
mixture is found to constitute the staple food of large populations in 
India. Bacon and beans are also a suitable association, and form a dish 
which has been of repute amongst us from ancient times. 

As a drawback to their high nutritive value, the leguminous seeds must 
be ranked as difficult of digestion. They require prolonged boiling to ren- 
der them tender and digestible. They are apt, besides lying heavy on the 
stomach, to occasion flatulence and colic, and the flatus is charged with a 
considerable quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen, arising from the sulphur 
which the legumine contains. They are also regarded as stimulating or 
heating to the system, and it is on account of this property that a moderate 
quantity of beans proves a serviceable adjunct to the food of the horse 
durins: the winter months. 



'a 



Beans. — Beans are derived from the Faha vulgaris, a plant which is 
supposed to be a native of the East, but which has been cultivated in 
Britain from time immemorial. There are several varieties, one of which 
yields the common horse-bean, which is raised in fields; and another, 
the broad- or Windsor-bean, which is grown in gardens. The former 
is almost exclusively employed as food for cattle. It is but rarely used 
as food by man, and then chiefly, after grinding, as an adulterant of 
wheaten-flour, or to give a desired quality to the loaf made from certain 
kinds of flour. The latter is boiled in the young and fresh state, for use 
at the table as a vegetable. It is also dried and preserved, whilst still 
green, so as to be available all the year round. In this condition it re- 
quires to be soaked in water for some hours before being cooked. 

Composition of Beans (Payen). 

TT I- Broad- or Windsor bean, dried in 

Morse- Dean. ^^^ ^^.^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ decorticated. 



Nitrogenous matter, . 30.8 29.05 

Starch, etc., 

Cellulose, 

Fatty matter, 

Saline matter, 

Water, . 



48.3 55.85 

3.0 1.05 

1.9 2.00 

3.5 3.65 

12.5 8.40 



100.0 100.00 

Haricots or French-heans. — The common kidney-bean, or French- 
bean {Phaseolus vulgaris,) is a native of India, and was introduced into 
England in the sixteenth century. The scarlet-runner (Phaseolus multi- 
Jlorus), another variety of the plant, is a native of South America, and 
was introduced into England in 1633. The unripe pods of both, with 
the young seeds in them, are cooked and eaten as a green vegetable at 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



16 



the table. On the Continent the pods are allowed to ripen, and die seeds 
form haricots blancs, which are consumed both in a fresh and dried state. 

Composition of Saricots JBlancs (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter, .... 


. 25.5 


Starch, etc., ..... 


. 55.7 


Cellulose, ..... 


. 2-9 


Fatty matter, ..... 


. 2.8 


Mineral matter, . . .• . 


. 3.2 


Water, 


. 9.9 



100.0 

Peas. — There are several varieties of the pea. Some, derived from 
the Plsian arve7ise, are grown in fields by the farmer as food for cattle. 
Others, forming the garden-pea, are derived from Pisum sativum^ a na- 
tive of the South of Europe, but long known in England. The more 
choice kinds of the garden-pea were brought from Holland, and formed 
an expensive article of food in Queen Elizabeth's time. Peas are grown 
for the ripened and dried seeds, and also for eating as a succulent vegeta- 
ble. In the latter case the pods are gathered before they have arrived at 
maturity, and the seeds separated and consumed in a green state. There 
is a kind of pea, called sugar-pea,, the pods of which are gathered young, 
and cooked and eaten with the seeds in them, in the same way as French- 
beans. 

Peas, when quite young, are tender and sweet, and far more digesti- 
ble, but less nourishing, than peas in the mature state. The latter, like 
other leguminous seeds, require slow and prolonged cooking to render 
them soft and dio;estible. When old, no amount of boiling- will soften 
them; indeed, the longer they are boiled the harder they become. In 
this condition they should be soaked in water for some time, and then 
crushed and stewed, or treated in the same manner as dried peas, to 
render them palatable and digestible. 



Composition of Dried Peas (Payen). 




Nitrogenous matter, ...... 


. 23.8 


Starch, etc., ....... 


58.7 


Cellulose, ......... 


3.5 


Fatty matter, ....... 


2.1 


Mineral matter, ....... 


2.1 


Water, 


8.3 



The Sea-pea {Pisum marithnuni) is used as an article of food in many 
parts of Europe, although the seeds are bitter to the taste (" Baird's Cyclo. 
of Natural Sciences.") 

Lentils. — Lentils form another alimentarv product yielded bv the 
leguminous tribe, and one of great antiquity. Although at present eaten 
in some parts of Europe and in Eastern countries, they are rarely em- 
ployed as human food in England. They are derived from the Ervura 
lens, which constitutes a kind of tare. 



168 



A TREATISE ON" EOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Composition of Lentils (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter, 
Starch, etc., 
Cellulose, . 
Fatty matter. 
Mineral matter, 
Water, 



25.2 

56.0 

2.4 

2.6 

2.3 

11.5 



100.0 



Hevalenta and Ervalenta, articles which will be referred to under the 
head of farinaceous preparations, owe their chief .composition to lentil 
flour. 

Misos, small beans like lentils, are eaten largely by the Japanese 
(" Thunberg's Travels," vol. iv., p. 35). 

Dolichos furnish to the poorer natives of India a pulse which they use 
extensively for their curries, etc. ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

The seeds of the Egyptian white Lupine {Lupinus ternis) are used by 
the Egyptians as an article of food, although it is difficult to rid them of 
their bitter taste (" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

The Lotus edulis, a native of the South of Europe and Egypt, has the 
taste of peas, and is an article of food in some countries. The ancient 
Egyptians ate it, as do the Egyptians of the present day. 

The Chestnut. — The Spanish, or sweet chestnut, is an edible, farina- 
ceous seed, which stands by itself. It is derived from a stately tree 
( Castanea vesca), which is a native of all the Southern parts of Europe, 
and abounds also in North America. Besides starch, the chestnut contains 
about 15 per cent, of sugar. No oil can be extracted from it by pressure. 
It is sometimes eaten in the raw state, but is more usually boiled or 
roasted. Even in a cooked condition it is not adapted for a w^eak stom- 
ach, and in the uncooked state it is decidedly indigestible. It is exten- 
sively used as an article of sustenance by the lower classes in many parts 
of the European Continent, as in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and Germany, 
and by the Red Indians of North America {Food Journal^ vol. i., p. 
100). Sometimes it is ground into flour and made into a kind of bread, 
and in some districts it is specially treated to get rid of its astringent 
and bitter qualities. It is largely imported into England from Spain and 
Italy. 

The seeds of some species of the genus Cycas are used as food, and 
esteemed as highly as chestnuts. The tree is found in the temperate and 
warm regions of Asia and America, and at the Cape of Good Hope 
(" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

Acorns. — Acorns formed a considerable part of the food of man in 
the early ages, and they are still used in some countries as a substitute 
for bread ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). Bartholin says that in Norway 
they are used to furnish a bread. The inhabitants of Chio held out a 
long siege vidthout any other food, and during a time of great scarcity in 
France (1709) this production was resorted to for sustenance ("Forsyth's 
Diet, of Diet "). 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 169 



OLEAGINOUS SEEDS. 

There are various seeds, denominated nuts, which are devoid of starchy, 
but rich in oily matter. The starch of the cerealia appears to be replaced 
by fat. They are also rich in nitrogenous matter, which exists under the 
form of albumen and caseine. Thus constituted, they possess a high nu- 
tritive value, but, like all articles permeated with fatty matter, they are 
difficult of digestion unless reduced to a minutely divided state before 
being consumed. The reason of this is easily given. Digestion is effected 
by the agency of a watery secretion, and where a substance is permeated 
%vith oily matter, resistance is offered to the penetration of a watery 
liquid, and it is only by a progressive action upon the surface that it can 
become attacked. In a minutely divided state, however, no such ob- 
struction is offered, and there is now only the richness belonging to an 
article which is largely impregnated with fatty matter. In this state, and 
if the stomach be not too delicate for them, they form a highly advan- 
tageous kind of food, although amongst the human race they enjoy but a 
limited application as an important or staple support. It must further 
be remarked that, on account of their fatty constituents, they are prone 
to become rancid in the course of time under exposure to air. 

The Almond. — This forms one of the most important of the oily seeds. 
It is derived from the Amygdalus communis, a small tree which belongs 
to Barbary and Syria, but which is now extensively cultivated in the 
Southern parts of Europe. It is also grown in England, but the fruit 
there does not arrive at perfection. The fruit, like the peach, apricot, 
plum, etc., belongs to the drupaceous group. The cortical part of it, 
however, is fibrous and juiceless, and not adapted for eating. It has been 
looked upon, it may be mentioned, as bearing the same relation to the 
peach that the sloe does to the plum, and the crab to the apple. The 
seed or kernel, situated within the shell, and provided with an envelop- 
ing reddish brown skin, is the only edible portion. The skin possesses a 
somewhat rough and bitter taste. It is easily removed after soaking 
for a short time in warm water, and the almond is then spoken of as 
blanched. Apart from the taste, the husk or skin is irritating to the 
throat and stomach, and unpleasant effects are mentioned as having been 
witnessed in consequence of its non-removal. Almonds, therefore, should 
always be blanched for the table. 

Two varieties of the almond are met with, the sweet and the bitter. 
They both yield by pressure an odorless fixed oil, which is of a perfectly 
innocent nature. The bitter almond, exclusively, contains the principles 
for the development of poisonous products. It has been shown that 
these products do not exist preformed in the seed, but are generated by 
the reaction of two principles when water is added. It appears that the 
bitter almond contains a crystallizable substance, named amygdalin, 
which, by the action of the nitrogenous matter present, viz., em^ulsin, 
when in contact with water, is converted into a fragrant volatile oil (the 
essential oil of bitter almonds), hydrocyanic or prussic acid, and other 
products. The sweet almond contains emulsin, but no amygdalin: 
hence the innocent properties that belong to it. 

Of the sweet almond, the Valentia, Barbary, Italian, and Jordan, 
form the varieties met with in commerce. The latter, imported from 
Malaga, are the finest. The bitter almond is chiefly brought from Moga- 



170 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



doce. It is extensively used for the extraction of the fixed oil, and when 
the residue has been mixed with water and subjected to distillation for 
yielding the volatile oil, it is employed for fattening pigs, etc. 



Composition of Siceet 


Almonds (Boullay). 




Emulsin, ......*. 


. 24.0 


Fixed oil, . 










. 54.0 


Liquid sugar, . 










. 6.0 


Gum, 










. 3.0 


Seed-coats, 










5.0 


Woody fibre, . 










4.0 


Water, 










3.5 


Acetic acid and loss 


> 








0.5 



I 



100.0 
Composition of Bitter Almonds (Yogel). 

Volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid, . Quantity undetermined. 

Emulsin, 

Fixed oil, . 



Liquid sugar. 
Gum, 

Seed coats. 
Woody fibre, 
Loss, 



30.0 
28.0 
6.5 
3.0 
8.5 
5.0 
19.0 

100.0 



The sweet almond is used dietetically in cookery and confectionery, 
and likewise as a dessert. For the latter purpose it is employed both in 
the fresh and dried state. By baking for a short time it becomes brittle 
and easily pulverizable, and is, doubtless, thereby rendered more digesti- 
ble. On account of the demand for it as an article of food, its price' is 
too high for the extraction of oil to be carried on from it to any extent. 
At my own suggestion, it has been made into biscuits for the use of 
the diabetic, and its composition shows that it forms a very suitable 
kind of food for administration in this complaint. From their richness 
in nitrogenous and fatty matters, the biscuits might also be advanta- 
geously employed in cases of defective nutrition, where the stomach is 
strong enough to bear a food of the kind. 

The bitter almond is used to give flavor to puddings, svveetmeats, 
and liqueurs (macaroons, ratafia-cakes, and noyeau, owe their flavor to 
this source), but more often the essential oil, which is frequently denomi- 
nated Peach-mit oil, is employed instead. Both, but particularly the 
latter, require to be cautiously dealt with, and, in proof of their danger- 
ous properties, it may be stated that a single drop of the essential oil was 
observed by Sir B. Brodie to kill a cat in five minutes, and twenty seeds 
have sufficed, according to Orfila, to kill a dog in six hours, when meas- 
ures were taken to prevent their rejection from the stomach by vomiting. 
Fatal results from both have been recorded as having occurred in the 
human subject. 



The Cocoa-nut. — The cocoa-nut is derived from the Cocos nucifera, 
a species of palm, supposed to have been originally a native of the Indian 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. I7l 

coasts and South Sea Islands, but now found in all tropical regions. 
The tree grows to from sixty to one hundred feet in height, and bears 
annually about eighty or a hundred nuts. The nut consists of a hard 
shell, containing a white, fleshy kernel, the central portion of which re- 
mains unsolidified, and yields the milky juice, which forms an agreeable, 
cooling beverage. The shell is surrounded by a thick, fibrous husk, which 
is turned to account for the construction of ropes, matting, etc., and in its 
natural state the whole fruit is about the size of a man's head. The 
fleshy, edible portion contains about 70 per cent, of a fixed fat, which 
is extracted and used under the name of cocoa-nut oil or butter. Its 
melting point is a little over 70° Fahr. 

The cocoa-nut forms the chief food of the inhabitants of Ceylon, the 
South Sea Islands, the coast of Africa, and many other tropical coasts 
and islands. It is not only eaten as it comes from the tree, both in the 
ripe and unripe state, but is also prepared and served in various ways. 

The Walnut. — This is the fruit of the Juglans regia^ a lofty tree, 
with large spreading branches, a native of Persia, but long cultivated in 
Europe, and supposed to have been introduced into Italy in the time of 
the Emperor Tiberius. The ripe fruit supplies one of the finest of nuts, 
which in many parts of France, Spain, Germany, and Italy, forms an im- 
portant article of food during the ripening season. English-grown wal- 
nuts are considered the best, but the supply from England is not equal 
to the demand, and large quantities are imported. In the unripe state, 
and before the shell has formed, it is extensively used for pickling and 
making ketchup. The walnut yields, by expression, a bland, fixed oil, 
which is consumed dietetically, and also used by painters. 

The Hickory-nut is derived from the Carya alha, and the Butter-nut 
from the Juglans cinerea, both of which constitute species of the walnut 
tribe of transatlantic growth. 

The Hazel-Nut. — The common hazel-nut is derived from the Corylus 
avellana^ a native of all the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, and of 
North America. The plant named is the parent of many varieties ob- 
tained by cultivation. One variety, for instance, the Corylus tuhulosa, 
yields the filbert, and another, Corylus grandis, the cob-nut. JBarcelona- 
nuts are derived from another variety- Like the hazel-nut itself, the 
latter are largely imported into England from Spain, and other parts of 
Europe, having been kiln-dried before exportation. 

The Brazil-Nut. — The Brazil-nut is the product of the juvia tree — 
JBertholletia excelsa — large forests of which exist on the banks of the 
Orinoco, and in the northern parts of Brazil. The outer case of the fruit, 
which attains the size of a man's head, is divided into four cells, and each 
of these contains six or eight nuts. The kernel of the nut, which is sur- 
rounded by a hard shell, is exceedingly rich in oil and furnishes a large 
quantity for extraction. It is highly esteemed by the natives of the lo- 
calities in which it is grov/n, and is largely exported from Para and French 
Guiana for the European market. 

The Cashew-Ntjt. — The tree [Anacardium occidentale) which yields 
the cashew- or acajou-nut, is a native of the West Indies. The fruit is a 
kidney-shaped nut, about an inch in length, with a double shell. The 
outer shell is ash-colored and very smooth, and between it and the inner 



172 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

one there exists an acrid, black juice. The kernel is oily, agreeable to 
the taste, and wholesome. It is a common article of food in tropical cli- 
mates, and is eaten in both the raw and cooked states. 

The Pistachio-Nut. — The pistachio-nut tree is a native of Persia and 
Syria, but is now cultivated in the south of Europe and north of Africa. 
The nut splits into two when ripe, and the kernel is of a bright green 
color. It is very oleaginous, possesses a delicate flavor, and resembles 
the sweet almond in its qualities. It is sometimes called the green 
almond. The nuts are highly esteemed in the countries where they are 
grown, but, as they soon become rancid, they are not much exported. 



TUBERS AND ROOTS. 

The Potato. — The potato may be considered as now occupying a 
place next in importance to the seeds of the cerealia as an article of vegeta- 
ble food, although only of comparatively modern introduction amongst us. 

It is derived from the 8olanum tuberoaa, a plant belonging to the 
order Solanacece, which, including, as it does, the belladonna, stramoni- 
um, henbane, and tobacco plants, furnishes some of the most poisonous 
narcotic products encountered. 

It is supposed to be a native of South America, and to have extended 
thence to North America. It seems to have been first brought to the 
Continent of Europe by the Spaniards, from the neighborhood of Quito, 
early in the sixteenth century, and to have been then cultivated in 
gardens only as a curiosity. Its introduction into England and Ireland 
came from North America; and in "Gerarde's Herbal," published in 
1597, it figures under the name of Batata Virghiiana. John Hawkins 
brought it to Ireland in 1565, and Sir Francis Drake to England in 1585, 
but without its attracting much attention in either case. The potatoes 
of Shakespeare, it may be mentioned, are not the same as the potatoes 
under consideration; but, on the other hand, a product of the Jiatatas 
edidis, known by the name of sweet potato. The potato was a third time 
imported by Sir Walter Raleigh, and, as it then received notice as an 
article of food, the credit is usually given to him for its introduction 
amongst us. In 1663 the Royal Society recommended that it should be 
more extensively planted, but it was not grown in the open fields in Eng- 
land till 1684, and so little was for some time thought of it, that Bradley, 
in 1718, speaks of it as of "little note," and in the " Complete Gardener" 
of London and Wise, published in 1719, no mention at all is made of it. 

The cultivation of the potato is now widely diffused over the globe, 
and it seems to thrive in most climates, but a considerable check to its 
prosperous growth has recently occurred. In 1845 a disastrous and pre- 
viously unknown disease broke out amongst the crops, and has since re- 
sisted all efforts to eradicate it. The disease attacks the whole plant, 
beginning in the leaves and proceeding through the stem to the under- 
ground part, and in some years produces such havoc as to entail a very 
heavy loss. Indeed, it prevails to such an extent, and appears of such an 
inexterminable nature, as justly to excite serious apprehensions respect- 
ing the continuance of a supply sufficient to meet the demand for general 
consumption. The present aspect, it may be said, points to the possi- 
bility of the potato dying out, as an article of every-day food, amongst us. 

The potato became a popular food in Ireland earlier than in Eng- 



^ 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



173 



land, and lias ever since held its position there as one of the chief articles 
of sustenance. Dr. E. Smith says that an adult Irishman will consume his 
10|- pounds of potatoes daily, i.e., 3|- pounds at each meal, and it has 
been calculated that from three-fifths to four-fifths of the entire food of 
the people of Ireland is derived from the potato. Since the famine, 
however, that arose at the commencement of the failure of the crops from 
the disease, Indian corn has come into greatly increased use. 

The part of the plant used as food constitutes the tuber, which is con- 
nected with, or, indeed, forms an exuberant growth of, a portion of the 
underground stem, with which this plant, in common with some others, is 
provided, in addition to that which grows, as usual, above ground. The 
tuber develops into a thick, fleshy, mass, but retains its buds, which here go 
under the denomination of eyes^ and each of these buds or eyes is capa- 
ble of independent growth in a detached or isolated state. They are 
used, in fact, under the name of sets for planting and raising a crop. 

The potato tuber is surrounded by a thin, grayish, epidermic covering, 
and beneath this is another tegumentary layer, in which coloring matter 
is deposited. The substance of the potato is made up of cells, penetrated 
and surrounded by a watery, albuminous juice, and filled with a number 
of starch-granules. 

There are many well-known different sorts of potato met with. They 
are derived from corresponding varieties in the plant. In the different 
varieties, notable differences in size, color, and edible qualities, are ob- 
servable. 

Composition of the Potato (from Letheby's table). 



Nitrogenous m 


atter, . . . . 


. 2.1 


Starch, etc., 




. 18.8 


Sugar, 




. 3.2 


Fat, . 




. 0.2 


Saline matter. 




. 0.7 


Water, 




. 75.0 



100.0 



The analysis given by Payen stands as follows: 

Composition of the Potato (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter, ...... 

Starch, ........ 

Cellulose, ........ 


2.50 

. 20.00 
. 1.04 


Sugar and gummy matter, .... 

Fatty matter, ....... 

Pectates, citrates, phosphates, and silicates of j 


. 1.09 
0.11 

- 1.26 

. 74.00 


lime, magnesia, potash, and soda, ' 
Water, 



100.00 



It is thus seen that the potato contains a large percentage of starch. 
This, indeed, forms its characteristic feature, and renders it applicable for 
the extraction, that is largely carried on, of starch for domestic and other 
purposes. The starch obtained from it is also used for adulterating the 



174: A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

more expensive farinaceous dietetic preparations, and likewise forms what 
is sold under the name of British arrow-root, tapioca, etc. Whilst less 
expensive, there is nothing to show that the starch of the potato differs 
to any sensible extent, in a nutritive point of view, from the other starchy 
preparations. 

Potatoes require to be cooked to render them fit for eating, and this 
may be effected by either boiling, steaming, baking, or frying. The heat 
employed coagulates the albuminous juice contained within and between 
the cells. The starch-granules absorb the watery part of the juice, swell up, 
and distend the cells in which they are lodged. The cohesion of the cells 
becomes destroyed, and they then easily separate from each other, leading 
to the potato easily breaking down into a loose, farinaceous mass. When 
these changes are complete, the potato is spoken of as being in a floury 
or mealy condition. When, on the other hand, the liquid is only par- 
tially absorbed and the cells imperfectly separated, the potato remains 
more or less firm, and is spoken of as close, waxy, or watery. 

Steaming is a better process for cooking potatoes than boiling, on ac- 
count of not being attended by the loss that is occasioned by the latter. 
When boiling is employed, the skin should not be removed, as is so often 
found to be the practice; for the removal of the skin favors the extraction 
of the juice by the surrounding water. The waste, says Dr. Letheby, 
when potatoes are cooked in their skins, only amounts to 3 per cent., or 
half an ounce in the pound, whereas when they are peeled first it is not less 
than 14 per cent., or from two to three ounces in the pound. A little 
salt added to the water in which potatoes are boiled tends to prevent the 
escape of their saline constituents. 

The potato constitutes a wholesome and agreeable article of food, and 
one of which the palate does not easily become fatigued. The amount 
of nitrogenous matter it contains is too small, however, to enable it to 
form a suitable food alone; but, with articles rich in nitrogenous matter, 
as meat, fish, etc., it supplies a useful and economical alimentary sub- 
stance. B}^ the peasantry in some rural districts it is employed in asso- 
ciation with buttermilk — which, from the caseine present, furnishes the 
requisite nitrogenous matter — as the chief means of support; and, thus 
associated, a cheap, and experience shows, an efficient diet is provided. 

In a floury or mealy state the potato enjoys easy digestibility; but 
in a close, watery, or waxy state, it is very trying to the digestive powers, 
and should, therefore, when in this condition, be avoided where delicacy 
of stomach exists. Young potatoes may be more tempting than old, 
but, from what has been said, will be understood to be indigestible. 

The potato has a high repute for the possession of antiscorbutic proper- 
ties. The concurrent testimony of numerous observers points to its form- 
ing a most efficient agent in preventing the occurrence of scurvy. It is 
used successfully for this purpose on board ocean-going vessels, and the 
inquiries of the late Dr. Baly into the diseases of prisoners showed in a 
conclusive manner that the addition of potatoes to the diet sufficed to ar- 
rest the prevalence of scurvy in prisons where it had before existed. 

The potato is subject to various diseases, which lead to an impairment 
of its alimentary value. The most important, by far, is the disease that 
has already been alluded to and which is st3^1ed popularly " the potato dis- 
ease." Ever since 1845, when it was first noticed, it has been common, some 
years more so tiian others, amongst the potato crops, not only in our own 
islands, but on the Continent of Europe and in America. The disease 
commences in the leaves of the plant, and extends thence through the stem 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 175 

to the tubers. Brown spots make their appearance upon the surface of 
the tuber, and then penetrate its substance and lead to decay. After being 
subjected to cooking, the affected part remains hard, whilst the healthy 
portion has become soft and mealy. If the diseased part be cut away, 
the remainder will be found good and fit for food; but considerable waste 
is necessarily thereby incurred, and the disease spreads as the potato is 
kept. Nothing has been witnessed to show that any ill effects, either in 
man or amongst the lower animals, have been produced by the incidental 
consumption of a small quantity of the diseased part; but potatoes in 
an advanced state of disease are prudently to be regarded as unfit food 
even for the lower animals. 

Potatoes become deteriorated upon growing out or germinating. They 
cease to assume a mealy state on cooking; present a semi-translucent ap- 
pearance; and possess a rather sickly, sweetish taste. It has been assert- 
ed that a poisonous principle, solanine, becomes developed in the buds 
and shoots of potatoes that are allowed to grow out on keeping. No 
conclusive evidence, however, has been adduced to show that the potato 
acquires noxious properties under such circumstances, and nothing is ever 
heard of any poisonous effects arising from its use, notwithstanding the 
universal consumption that is going on, and that it is often cooked with- 
out the aid of water, which might have the effect of dissolving out any 
noxious principle. If there be at any time a poison present, it must be 
either insignificant in amount, or be destroyed by the heat to which the 
potato is subjected before being sent to the table. 

Exposure to frost also seriously damages the potato. The effect pro- 
duced is of a mechanical nature. The watery juice contained in the cells 
and intercellular spaces undergoes expansion in the act of freezing, and 
so leads to a rupture and separation of the cells, and in this way a destruc- 
tion of the organization of the tuber. Its vitality becomes thus de- 
stroyed, and, in consequence, it has no longer the power to resist, when 
thawed, the ordinary changes of decomposition: hence, putrefaction oc- 
curs, and, advancing, renders the article unfit for food. 

The Sweet Potato. — The sweet potato is derived from the J^atatas 
edulis, or, as it was called by the older botanists, Convolv^ilus batatas, a 
plant which is a native of the Malayan Archipelago, where it formerly grew 
wild in woods. The plant is now cultivated in most of the w^arm countries, 
and furnishes a starchy and sweet tuber, which is prized as an article of 
food in the East and West Indies, America, and hot climates generally. 
It was largely eaten in Europe before the cultivation of the potato, which 
has now taken its place, and also its name. The tubers were imported 
into England by way of Spain, and sold as a delicacy before the potato 
was known, and it forms the article referred to when the name is men- 
tioned by English writers previous to the middle of the seventeenth 
century. It is still, to some extent, cultivated in the south of France 
and in Spain, and is to be obtained in Paris during the fall of the year, 
but is not much esteemed now, being considered too sweet to eat with 
meat and other articles seasoned with salt, and not sweet enough as a 
sweet kind of food. In North America it is a favorite article of food — 
more generally used than perhaps any other vegetable except the or- 
dinary potato. When roasted or boiled, it is mealy, and may be looked 
upon as forming a wholesome food. It is said to possess slightly laxative 
properties. 

There are several varieties of the Batatas cultivated. The following' 



176 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



is the composition, according to the analysis of Payen, of a tuber of the 
kind grown in the south of France and America, which is characterized 
by riclmess in starchy and saccharine constituents: 



Composition of the Sweet Potato. 



Nitrogenous matter, ..... 


. 1.50 


Starch, ........ 


16.05 


Sugar, ........ 


10.20 


Celhilose, . . . . . . . 


0.45 


Fatty matter, ....... 


0.30 


Other organic matter, ...... 


1.10 


Mineral salts, ....... 


. 2.60 


Water, 


67.50 



99.70 

The Yam. — The yam forms a large, esculent tuber, derived from 
several species of the genus Dioscorea, a group of climbing plants be- 
longing to tropical climates. The tuber is oblong, and sometimes grows 
to the length of three feet, and may weigh as much as thirty pounds. 
It contains a considerable amount of starch, and, when boiled or roasted, 
forms a mealy, palatable, and wholesome food. It is devoid of the sweet- 
ness appertaining to the sweet potato, and likewise keeps better. It is 
eaten by the inhabitants of New Zealand, as well as by those of the East 
and West Indies and the South Sea Islands, and holds as important a 
position as an aliment in tropical countries as the common potato does 
in Europe. At the period of the potato famine an. attempt was made to 
introduce it into England, but with little success. 

Of the varieties, the Dioscorea sativa forms the common yam of the 
West Indies. The Dioscorea alata, or winged yam, grows in the South 
Sea Islands and likewise the West Indies, and is met with also in a 
cultivated state in the East Indies. In different localities there are many 
other varieties. The Dioscorea batatas has been recently brought from 
China, and has been found to be susceptible of cultivation in France, 
yielding an abundant produce of wholesome and agreeable food, available 
all the year round, or readily, at least, during the greater part of the 
year. 

The tubers of all the yams contain an acid principle, which is dis- 
sipated by boiling, but there are some species which possess poisonous 
properties. 

The Jerusalem Artichoke. — This vegetable product is derived from 
the Helianthus tuherosus, a plant belonging to the sunflower tribe. The 
word " Jerusalem," indeed, as here applied, is asserted to form a corruption 
of the li^ilmn girasole (sunflower). The plant is said to have been brought 
in 1617 from Brazil, and is also believed to have been a native of Mexico. 
It was cultivated in European gardens before the potato was introduced. 
The root produces around it oval or roundish tubercles, which form the 
edible part, and which may amount to as many as thirty or even fifty in 
number. These tubercles, unlike the potato, resist the action of the frost, 
and thus may be allowed to remain in the ground during the winter, and 
collected for use as occasion may require. The herbaceous part of the 
plant, when dry, is also susceptible of being turned to account as fuel. 



ALIMENTARY SDBSTANCES. 



177 



The Jerusalem artichoke is not consumed to a large extent in England. 
It has something of the character of the potato, but possesses a sweetish 
taste, is less agreeable to the palate, and does not become mealy on boil- 
ing. The absence of starch accounts for this. There are no granules, as 
in the potato, to swell up and absorb the moisture, and disorganize or 
break up the tissue into a loose, friable mass. It therefore maintains a 
moist or watery condition after cooking, and simply becomes softened, 
A body in this state must needs be of a less digestible nature than the 
potato. Its analysis shows that it contains a considerable percentage of 
sugar. The inuline^ which is present in small amount, forms a principle 
isomeric with starch. 

Composition of the Jerusalem ArtichoJce 



(From the analys 

Nitrogenous matter, 

Sugar, 

Inuline, 

Pectic acid, 

Pectine, 

Cellulose, . 

Fatty matter. 

Mineral matter, 

Water, 



s of Payen, Poinsot 



and Fevry). 



3.1 
14.7 
1.9 
0.9 
0.4 
1.5 
0.2 
1.3 
76.0 

100.0 



Other tuberous products are used as food. Several species of the Ox- 
alideos have tuberous roots, and are cultivated for the sake of their tubers. 
The Oxalis crenata and Oxalis tuberosa are natives of Peru and Bolivia, 
Their tubers, when cooked, become mealy, like potatoes, and are said to 
be much esteemed. The tubers of Tropoeolmn tuberosum are also eaten 
in Peru. Their taste is described as peculiar. The Ullucus tuberosus 
grows in the mountainous regions of South America, and is cultivated in 
Peru and Bolivia for the sake of the tubers. It was introduced into France 
as a substitute for potatoes. The tubers of the Witheringia (Solanum,) 
montana are used as an article of food by the Peruvians. The Phlomis 
tuberosa is eaten by the Calmucs of the Caspian, after being reduced to 
powder. The tuberous bitter vetch, Orobus tuberosus, is a native of Brit- 
ain, and its tubers have been used, in times of scarcity, as an article of 
food (" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

The rhizomes or underground stems of the Caladium seguinum,, or 
dumb cane, of the West Indies, are often used as a substitute for potatoes 
and yams. The rhizomes of the pondweed {Potamogeton natans) are 
used in Siberia as an article of food. The root of the Arracacha esculenta^ 
a native of South America, is much cultivated in the neighborhood of 
Santa Fe de Bogota and other parts of Colombia, where it is as much 
eaten as potatoes or yams are elsewhere. It is boiled like a potato, and 
is said to have a flavor intermediate between that of the parsnep and 
chestnut ("Baird's Cyclo. Nat. Sci."). 

The Carrot. — The garden carrot is derived by cultivation from the 
Daucus carota, a plant which grows freely in awild state in fields, hedge- 
rows, and waysides in Britain. The root of the wild plant is white, slen- 
12 



178 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



der, and hard, and has an acrid, disagreeable taste, and strong, aromatic 
smell. As the result of cultivation, the root of the garden variety is thick, 
fleshy, and succulent, and of ared, yellow, or pale straw color, with a 
pleasant odor, and a sweet, agreeable taste. Whilst young it is very 
tender, but becomes hard when allowed to grow old. It is said that the 
garden carrot was introduced into use in England by the Flemish refugees 
who settled at Sandwich in the reign of Elizabeth. 

Composition of Carrots (from Letheby's table). 

Nitrogenous matter, ....... 1.3 

Starch, etc., ........ 8.4 

Sugar, . . . . . . . . . 6.1 

Fat, . . . 0.2 

Mineral matter, ....... 1.0 

Water, 83.0 

100.0 

Carrots form a wholesome and useful food, for both man and cattle. 
They are not adapted, however, for a weak stomach, being somewhat in- 
digestible and apt to produce flatulence. They are proportionately val- 
uable as they have more of the outer, soft, red, than the central, yellow, 
core-like part. On account of the sugar present, they admit of a syrup 
being prepared from them, and also yield, by fermentation and distilla- 
tion, a spirituous liquid. Cut into small pieces and roasted, they are 
sometimes used in Germany as a substitute for coffee. 

The Parsnip. — The root of the parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is of a 
pale yellow color, but otherwise closely resembles that of the carrot, both 
in general characters and alimentary properties. The plant is a native 
of Britain, and is also found in many parts of Europe and the north of 
Asia. In the wild state the root is white, aromatic, mucilaginous, and 
sweet-tasted, with some degree of acridness. By cultivation it is ren- 
dered more fleshy and milder flavored. It is used in the same way, but 
not so extensively, as the carrot, and is not so generally liked. From 
custom, it forms the usual accompaniment of salt fish. 



i 



Composition of the Parsnip (from Letheby's table). 



Nitrogenous matter, . 


. 1.1 


Starch, etc., .... 


. 9.6 


Sugar, 


. 5.8 


Fat, 


. 0.5 


Salts, ...... 


. 1.0 


Water, . . . 


. 82.0 



100.0 

Parsnips are not only used as a vegetable, but a wine is sometimes 
made from them, which is spoken of as somewhat resembling malmsey. 
A spirit, also, is sometimes distilled from the fermented product, and in the 
north of Ireland, with the aid of hops, a table beer is brewed from them. 



ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES. l79 

The Turnip. — Turnips grow wild in England, but the wild plant 
(Brassica canipestrls) is supposed to form the original of the Swedish 
turnip, or Swede, which is too coarse eating for human food, and not of 
the cultivated vegetable. This, the Brassica rapa (Lindiey calls the 
turnip Brassica ncqnis, and rape Brassica rapa), is said to have been 
first introduced as a food for cattle into this country by the celebrated 
agriculturist. Coke, of Holkham, afterward Earl of Leicester. It forms 
an agreeable and extensively used vegetable, being either cooked alone 
or mixed with soups and stews. From the large proportion of water it 
contains, its nutritive value is low. 

The top shoots of such turnip plants as have stood the winter are 
gathered, and used as a green vegetable. Those from the Swedish tur- 
nip are the sweetest flavored. 

Composition of the Turnip (Letheby's table). 

Nitrogenous matter, . . . . . . .1.2 

Starch, etc., ........ 5.1 

Sugar, . ^ ...... . 2.1 

Salts, . . . . . . . . . 0.6 

Water, 91.0 

100.0 

Beet-Root. — The common or red beet (Beta vulgaris) belongs to the 
family of saltworts, which contains the spinach, quinoa, etc., and is char- 
acterized by the large amount of alkali in combination with an organic 
acid existing in the plants. It is a native of the coasts of the Mediterra- 
nean, and was introduced into this country in 1548. It was at one time 
called beet-rave, from the French betterave. The root is usually of an 
elongated form, like that of the carrot, but in some varieties it assumes 
more of a turnip-shaped character. The color varies from a deepish 
blackish red to a light red. Beet-root is extensively grown, and em- 
ployed as food both for man and cattle; and on the Continent is further 
used as a source of sugar. It is eaten cold, in slices, either alone or in 
salads, after being boiled, and is also sometimes pickled. 

The mangel-wurzel (Beta altissima) is usually thought to constitute 
a large and coarse variety of the common beet, in which the red color is 
but little developed. 

Radishes. — The common radish (Baplianiis sativiis) is a native of 
China, and is mentioned bv Gerard, in 1584, as then cultivated in Eng- 
land. The root is either long and spindle-shaped, or round and turnip- 
shaped. The color of the exterior varies: there being black, violet, red, 
and white radishes; but, in all, the central portion is white. It is usu- 
ally eaten in a raw state, but is sometimes boiled and served as a vege- 
table. In composition the radish closely resembles the turnip. 

Salsify. — The salsify, or purple goat's beard {Tragopogon porrifo' 
Uus) is a hardy plant, indigenous in England. It belongs to the same 
tribe as the chiccory and lettuce. The root is long and tapering, and 
becomes by cultivation fleshy and tender, with a white, milky juice. It 
has a mild, sweetish taste, like the parsnip, and is boiled or stewed for 
the table. It is not so much eaten in Enijland as on the Continent. In 



180 A TREATISE ON EOOD AND DIETETICS. 

America it is usually boiled, mashed with potatoes, and fried in small 
cakes; and, from the taste belonging to it when fried, it is there often 
called the " oyster plant." 

The Ginseng root is highly valued by the Chinese for its supposed 
invigorating and aphrodisiac qualities. It is a species of Panax ^ and 
the Panax quinquefolium, which is a native of America, possesses the 
same qualities as the ginseng (" Barrow's Travels in China," and " Baird's 
Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

The root of the Kalo, or Arum esculentum, which is the principal 
food of the lower class of the Sandwich Islanders, somewhat resembles 
the beet, but its color is brown instead of red. It is reared with great 
care in small enclosures kept wet, like rice or paddy fields. A sort of 
paste is made from the root, which is called poi ("Simpson's Journey 
Round the World," vol. ii., p. 31). 

The roots of the Potentilla anserina^ or goose-grass, when roasted or 
boiled, taste like parsnips, and in the Western Islands of Scotland they 
have been known to support the inhabitants for months together in times 
of scarcity (" Baird's Cyclo. Nat. Sci."). 

The roots of the common fern, or bracken, are largely eaten in New 
Zealand. They are simply washed and boiled, or beaten with a stone till 
they become soft and are then roasted. 



HERBACEOUS ARTICLES. 

These include foliaceous parts, shoots, and stems of plants. They are 
valuable as articles of food, not so much for the absolute amount of nu- 
tritive matter afforded — for, on account of their succulent nature, they 
contain but a small proportion of solid matter — as for the salts they yield 
and the variety they give to our diet. By cultivation they have been 
brought to a very different state from that in which they originally ex- 
isted. To make them tender and agreeably flavored is part of the art of 
the gardener, and is accomplished by quick growth and, in many in- 
stances, by a partial exclusion from light. If allowed to grow slowly, the 
development of ligneous matter is favored, which gives them hardness, 
whilst full exposure to light leads to the production, not only of green 
coloring matter, but of the characteristic principles of the plant, which 
often communicate a strong and disagreeable taste. It is found that 
leafy products, which have been allowed to acquire a full green color, 
possess more or less purgative properties. It is necessary, tluerefore, that 
the consumption of these should not be on too extensive a scale. The 
antiscorbutic virtue of the class of vegetables under consideration is high. 

Peoducts of the Cabbage Tribe. — The original of the cabbage tribe 
is the sea-cabbage, a wild plant, named Prassica oleracea, which is to 
be found growing on many cliffs of the South Coast of England, and 
in some other parts. This is the true collet, or colewort (although the 
name is now applied to anj"" young cabbage which has a loose and open 
heart), and the leaves of it are gathered by the inhabitants and consumed 
as a vegetable. In this state it only grows to an insignificant size in 
comparison with the dimensions attained as the result of cultivation. 
From this plant a variety of Avell-known and extensively consumed vege- 
tables have been produced, including, for instance, cabbages, greens, 
savoys, Brussels-sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. Looked at in a gen- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 181 

eral way, these various products form a wholesome and agreeable compo- 
nent of the food of man. It is true, containing, as they do, about 90 per 
cent, of water, their nutritive value is not high, but they are useful as 
giving variety, and for the salts they supply. They also possess marked 
antiscorbutic virtue. They labor under the disadvantage of being articles 
of diflBcult dis"estion, which renders them unsuited where weakness ot* 
stomach exists. Their proportion of sulphur is large, and they thus are 
apt to give rise to flatulence of an unpleasant nature. To secure tender- 
ness, they should be grown quickly, and dressed whilst young. 

The coinmon ichite garden cabbage is a variety of the J3rassica oler- 
acea. It is one of the oldest of cultivated vegetables, and has been known 
in this country from time immemorial. 

What is called Sauer-Jcraut, which is largely consumed in Germany, 
is prepared from the leaves of cabbage. These, deprived of their stalk 
and mid-rib, are cut up and placed in a tub or vat in alternate layers 
with salt. They are then subjected to pressure, and allowed to remain 
till acid fermentation has set in and they have become sour. The pro- 
duct is cooked by stewing in its own liquor. 

Heel cabbage. — This is another variety of the J3rassica oleracea, which. 
is similar in form to the preceding. It is used chiefly for pickling, but 
is sometimes stewed in a fresh state for the table. 

Greens constitute all the varieties of the JBrassica oleracea which 
grow in an open way or have no hearts, and which are used as an article 
of food. Some of them are called colewort (the name applied to the 
wild plant), and others, with curled or wrinkled leaves, are known a.s green 
kale, or borecole. They are sufficiently hardy to resist the cold of winter, 
and thus yield a green vegetable when such food is scarce. 

There is a variety of the cabbage-plant extensively cultivated in Jer- 
sey, which attains a height of seven or eight feet and upward. It con- 
tinues to grow, and throw out leaves from the top; and these, as they 
attain full size, are stripped off and used as food, both for man and cattle. 
Thriving through the winter, as it does, it is a valuable plant to the in- 
habitants of the island. The stem is sufficiently hard and woody to be 
susceptible of conversion into a walking-stick. 

Savoy. — This name is applied to a variety of cabbage, which is dis- 
tinguished from other close-hearted cabbages by having wrinkled leaves. 
It is principally grown for winter use. 

JBrussels-sprouts form also a winter and early spring vegetable. They 
grow with small heads, like miniature cabbages, from the axils of the 
leaves of one of the many cultivated varieties of jBrassica oleracea. The 
plant is usually propagated from seed imported from Belgium, as it is 
apt to degenerate by growth in England. It has been cultivated lately 
to a much larofer extent in the market-srardens around London than for- 
merly. 

Cauliflower. — This is one of the most delicate and highly prized arti- 
cles derived from the cabbage tribe. It is entirely the product of culti- 
vation, and constitutes the inflorescence of the plant, which by art has 
been made to grow into a compact mass or head, of a white color. It was 
known to the Greeks and Romans, but was not much grown in England 
until the end of the seventeenth century. It was then, however, very 
successfully cultivated, and even exported to Holland, from which coun- 
try so many of our vegetables have been introduced. 

broccoli is disting-uished from cauliflower, of which it is merelv a 
variety, by the color of its inflorescence and leaves, and its compara- 



182 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

tively hardy constitution, which enables it to stand the winter. Its 
color varies greatly, through shades of buff or yellow, green, and purple. 

JBroccoli-sprouts are obtained from the early purple or sprouting broc- 
coli. The plant grows from two to three feet high, and produces sprouts 
of flowers from the axils of the leaves. 

Kohl-rahi^ Knol-hohl, or Turnip cabbage, constitutes a remarkable 
variety of cabbage-plant. The stem is enlarged just above the ground 
into a fleshy, turnip-like knob, of about the size of a man's fist, from 
which the leaf- stalks spring. The plant is of a hardy nature, and the 
globular enlargement is more solid and more nutritious than a turnip of 
the same size. 

Spinach. — The vegetable falling under this name is furnished by the 
leaves of the Spinacia oleracea, or garden spinach, a plant introduced 
into this country in the sixteenth century, and supposed to be a native 
of Western Arabia. There are several varieties of the plant, and the 
leaves are boiled and mashed for the table, to be eaten as a green vege- 
table, and are also frequently employed for introduction into soup. It 
is a wholesome vegetable, with slightly laxative properties. 

The spinach belongs to a tribe of plants, other families of which yield 
leaves that are prepared and eaten in a similar way. For instance, the 
leaves of the Chenopodium, which furnishes the quinoa grain, are used 
as spinach by the inhabitants of Chili and Peru. The JBeet family be- 
longs to the same tribe, and the leaves of the l^eta marithna, or sea-beet, 
a common European sea-shore plant, and of the I^eta cicla, or white beet, 
are also used as spinach. The latter plant, which is supposed to be a 
variety of the red beet, is cultivated specially and solely for the leaves. 
It is a native of the sea-coasts of Spain and Portugal, and was introduced 
into England in 1570. What is called 7nountai7i spinach is derived from 
the garden orache {Atri2?lex hortensis), a member of another family be- 
longing to the same tribe, which is a native of Tartary, and was intro- 
duced into Europe in 154:8. The leaves have a slightly acid flavor, and 
are much esteemed as a vegetable in France. 

The Romans ate the leaves of the mallow as a substitute for spinach, 
and these are still used for a similar purpose in some parts of France, 
Italy, and Low^er Egypt. The leaves of Mercurialis annua are cooked 
and eaten as spinach in Germany (" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

Sorrel. — Sorrel (Iluinex acetosa) belongs to the buckwheat order of 
plants. In England it is to be seen growing wild in meadows, and is 
now seldom used as an article of food, although in the time of Henry 
VIII. it was to be found in almost every garden. In France, however, 
it is rather extensively employed, and by cultivation is considerably im- 
proved. Sorrel possesses an acid taste of a pronounced character, which 
is due to the presence of the superoxalate of potash and tartaric acid. 

Rhubarb. — This is also a member of the buckwheat tribe, and yields 
one of the most useful of garden productions. Whilst the leaves were 
formerly boiled and made into a sauce for meat in England, the stalks 
have only been of comparatively recent introduction into dietetic use 
amongst us. The Ulieuin rhaponticum and Ilheuin hi/briduni constitute 
the species usually grown for alimentary purposes. The Jiheiwi ^^alma- 
tiim, commonly known to gardeners as the true Turkey rhubarb, also 
yields an excellent edible product. The stalks of the leaves, after being 



ALIMENT APwY SUBSTANCES. 183 

peeled, are cooked and eaten precisely in the same way as gooseberries, 
for which they form a good substitute, if even they are not to be pre- 
ferred. Rhubarb occupies, indeed, in an alimentary point of view, the 
position of a fruit, but it is not eatable in the raw state. It is also some- 
times used for making wine. On account of oxalate of lime forming a 
constituent of rhubarb, it should be avoided by persons suffering from 
the oxalate of lime diathesis. 

Layer. — Laver is the name given to various kinds of sea-weed used 
as food. Green laver ^ as dressed for the table, closely resembles spinach 
in appearance, but has a bitterish taste. It is obtained from the Tllva 
latissirna, a common sea-weed on the British shores. Amongst the other 
marine plants employed are the JPorphyra vulgaris and laciniata j Chori' 
drus crispics, or carragee7i, or Irish moss ^ Laminaria digitata, or sea^ 
girdle^ Laminaria saccharina j and Alaria escidenta, or bladder- 
lock. 

Basing his remarks upon the analyses of Dr. Davy and Dr. Apjohn, 

Dr. Letheby states that sea-weeds, in a moderately dry condition, contain 

from 18 to 26 per cent, of water, 9-Jto 15 per cent, of nitrogenous matter, 

and, upon an average, about 60 per cent, of starchy matter and sugar, 

(vegetable mucilage ?) — a composition which places them amongst the 

most nutritious of vegetable substances. He urges the advisability of 

extendino- the use of so valuable and abundant a stock of food, which 

• • • • 1% 

already enters largely into the diet of some of the coast inhabitants of 

Great Britain, Ireland, and the Continent. Before being cooked, they 

require to be soaked in water to remove their saline matter. They are 

then stewed in water or milk until they become tender and mucilaginous. 

Sometimes they are pickled, and eaten with pepper, vinegar, and oil, or 

with lemon-juice. The consumption of laver is thought to be useful in 

scrofulous affections and glandular tumors. 

Sea-weeds are eaten by the Chinese, and a jelly is likewise made by 

them from the leaves oifucus ("Barrow's Travels in China," pp. 551-2). 

It may be mentioned here that certain varieties of ILichen are con- 
sumed as food. Captain Franklin and his party, in their voyage to the 
Polar Sea, subsisted principally, during a part of the year 1821 (when 
suffering great privations), on lichens of the genus Gyrophora, which 
the Canadians term tripe de roche. Under this diet, however, the party 
became little more than skin and bones, and after a time the unpalatable 
weed became quite nauseous to all, and produced bowel complaint amongst 
several (" Franklin's Journey," p. 403). 

Celery. — The common celery (Apium graveolens) is a native of 
Britain, and in its wild state is known as smallage, which grows freely by 
the sides of ditches and in marshy places. In this state it has a coarse, 
rank taste, and a peculiar smell. By the process of cultivation which is 
now resorted to, and which was introduced from India about a century 
and a half ago, it loses its acrid nature, and becomes mild and sweet. The 
plan adopted is to earth it up as it grows, and thus keep it white by ex- 
clusion from light, the tops of the leaves only being allowed to appear 
above the ground. Several varieties of the plant are met with. Eaten 
raw, it must undoubtedly be looked upon as difficult of digestion. It is 
frequently stewed, and is employed also for introducing into soups. 



184 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Sea-kale. — The Sea-kale ( Cramha maritima) forms a hardy plant, 
"which grows on the sea-shores of various parts of Britain and the Conti- 
nent. It has long been eaten by the common people, but was not culti- 
vated in gardens until the eighteenth century. It is now brought to a 
high state of perfection, and is one of the most esteemed of vegetables. 
Properly cooked, it is delicate, easy of digestion, and nutritious. Like 
celery, it is blanched by exclusion from light during its growth, and un- 
less this is carefully attended to, the shoots acquire an acrid taste. The 
vegetable is but little known on the Continent. 

Artichoke. — The green artichoke constitutes the flower-head of one 
of the Co7npositoe, viz., the Cynara scolymus, which is a native of the 
South of Europe, and was introduced into England in 1548. The jQower- 
head is gathered before the flowers expand. The succulent bases of the 
leafy scales and the central disc form the edible portion, and furnish a 
delicate-flavoured vegetable. 

The term chard is applied to the leaf-stalks, which have been blanched 
by tying up the leaves and wrapping all of them over expect the tops. 
In this state the stalks are tender and white, and are sometimes thus pre- 
pared for the table. 

The fleshy receptacle of the carline thistle (Carlina caidescens), a na- 
tive of the South of Europe, exceeds that of the artichoke in size and is 
said to equal it in flavor. 

The cardoon ( Cy^iara carduncellus) also yields an edible article. The 
plant closely resembles the common artichoke. The thick, fleshy leaves 
are blanched, and, when cooked, taste very much like the artichoke. It 
is not much used in England, but is in considerable request on the Conti- 
nent. 

Asparagus. — The Asparagus officinalis belongs to the lily tribe, and 
in its wild state is a sea-coast plant. It is a native of Europe, and is 
now extensively cultivated as a garden vegetable. The young shoots 
form the portion that is eaten, and, by cultivation, these have been 
greatly increased in size and altered from their original condition. They 
are universally esteemed as a choice and delicate vegetable. They con- 
tain a special crystallizable principle, called asparagine, which possesses 
diuretic properties, and gives a peculiar odor to the urine. 

Other vegetable products are sometimes dressed and eaten in the same 
way as asparagus. The flower-stalks, for instance, of the Ornithogalum 
pyrenaicum are used as asparagus in some parts of Gloucestershire, and 
sold in Bath under the name of Prussian asparagus. The stalks of the 
salsify are likewise sometimes similarly employed, and also the leaf stalks 
and mid-ribs of the great white or sweet beet [JBeta cicla). The latter is 
denominated beet chard. The young shoots of one or two species of 
Typha are eaten by the Cossacks like asparagus. The young buds of 
hops are said to be scarcely inferior to asparagus in taste. 

Onion. — The onion (Alliian cepa), like the asparagus, although differ- 
ing so much from it in its dietetic properties, belongs to the lily tribe of 
plants. In common with, but to a higher degree than, the other mem- 
bers of the allium species, which includes also the garlic, chive, shallot, 
and leek, it contains an acrid, volatile oil, which possesses strongly irri- 
tant and excitant properties. Grown in Spain and other warm places, 
the onion is milder and sweeter than when grown in colder countries. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 185 

The chief use of the onion reared in our own gardens is as a condiment 
or flavoring agent, whilst the large onions imported from Spain are suf- 
ficiently mild to be eaten as an ordinary vegetable, and are stewed and 
roasted for the table. 

Lettuce. — The garden lettuce [Lactuca sativa), is a hardy plant, of 
which a great number of varieties exist. It is supposed to be a native of 
the East Indies, but has been cultivated in Europe from a remote period 
of antiquity. Most of the lettuces grown for use form one or other of 
two kinds — cos and cabbage. The leaves of the former are oblong and 
upright, and are tied together for the purpose of being blanched; whilst 
those of the latter are rounder and of a more spreading character, and at 
the same time grow nearer to the ground. 

The lettuce supplies a wholesome, digestible, cooling, and agreeable 
salad. It is occasionally made use of as a boiled vegetable. It contains 
a milky juice, especially when the plant has been allovt^ed to run to 
flower, which possesses mild soporific properties, and is collected and in- 
spissated, and used as a medicinal agent, under the name of lactucarhcm 
or lettuce opium. 

Endive. — The endive ( Cichorium endivia) is a native of China or 
Japan, and was introduced into Europe in the year 1548. It is largely 
used as a winter salad, but is less tender than lettuce, and has a decidedly 
bitter taste. It is sometimes stewed and eaten as a cooked vegetable. 

Cress. — The common or garden cress {Lepidium sativum) is a native 
of the East, but has been cultivated in our gardens since 1548. The 
young leaves are used as salad, and they possess a pungent and agreeable 
flavor. It ranks as one of the principal of the small salads, and a va- 
riety with curled leaves is especially esteemed. 

Mustard. — The white mustard [Sinapis alba) is a native of Britain, 
and grows in waste places. It is sown in gardens, and forced under glass 
for the production of a small salad, which, like cress, possesses an agree- 
able, pungent flavor. 

Rape. — The Rape {JBrassica napus) is frequently grown and used as 
a substitute for mustard and cress. It is devoid, however, of the aoree- 
able pungency which belongs to these latter articles. 

Water-cress. — The water-cress [Nasturtium officinale) is a creeping 
plant, which grows in slow-running streams, and thrives best on a bottom 
of sand or gravel. It is a native of almost all parts of the world, and 
forms a favorite and wholesome edible product, which is seldom out of 
season. There are two varieties, the green and brown 

The young shoots of the common poke, or American grape [Phytolacca 
decandra ), are eaten by the natives of America and the West Indies as 
a vegetable, and in Austria the plant is cultivated for the same purpose 
("Baird's Cyclo. Nat. Sci."). 

The leaves of the common daisy are used as a pot-herb in some coun- 
tries (" Baird's Cyclo. Nat. Sci."). 

The leaves of the dandelion are eaten as a salad, and are little inferior 
to endive (" Forsyth's Dictionary of Diet "). 



186 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

The large purple flowers of the AhuUlo7i esculentum (called in Brazil, 
Ben§aode Dios), are dressed and eaten with their food by the inhabitants 
of Rio de Janeiro ("Baird's Cyclo. Nat. Sci."). 

The leaves of the Lithospermuni marithnum^ which belongs to the 
same tribe as the borage, and grows on the sea-coast in certain northern 
parts of the United Kingdom, are said to have a strong taste of oysters. 
It is hence sometimes called the " oyster-plant " in Scotland, 



FRUITY PRODUCTS CONSUMED AS VEGETABLES. 

CucuMBEE. — The common cucumber {Cucumis sativus) is a native of 
the South of Asia, but has long been cultivated in all civilized countries. 
It furnishes a fleshy fruit, which forms an edible product. It is grown 
both in the open air and under glass, the fruit varying in size, tenderness, 
and flavor, accordingly : that which is forced or grown quickly possessing 
choicer qualities than that which is grown slowly. 

Cucumber, in the raw state, must be looked upon as a cold and indi- 
gestible article; and it is apt to disagree with many. Stewed, it forms a 
light and wholesome vegetable. 

Young cucumbers are pickled in vinegar and called gherkins . In this 
state they form an agreeable relish at a meal, and serve to give zest for 
other food. 

Vegetable Marrow. — Vegetable marrow constitutes the fruit of the 
Cucurhita ovifera, a plant which is supposed to be only a variety of 
the pumpkin. It was introduced into Europe from the East Indies at the 
commencement of the present century, and is now extensively cultivated 
in England. It is dressed in various ways, and its name is derived from 
the softness of its fleshy substance. It forms a delicate-flavored and 
easily digestible vegetable, but, on account of its highly succulent nature, 
its nutritive value is very low. 

The pumpkin ( Cucurhita pepo), and melon-pumpkin, or squash ( Cv>^ 
curhita melopepo), are products of an allied nature to vegetable marrow, 
and are sometimes used as food. 

Tomato. — The tomato, or love-apple (Solanmn ly coper sicurn)^ is a 
native of South America, and was introduced into Europe in 1596. The 
ripe fruit is used in various ways, and has an agreeable acidulous taste. 
It is more, perhaps, as a relish, than for its nutritive value, that it is use- 
ful, and its popularity has rapidly increased of late. In the unripe state 
it is said to make an excellent pickle. In America it is ver}'- largely used, 
and is eaten raw as a salad, or after being stewed; and of late years an 
important industry has sprung up in that country, embracing their pre- 
servation by partial cooking and enclosure in hermetically sealed tins. 

A variety of the Solarium melongena, or egg-plant, yields a fruity 
product, known as the egg-apple, aubergine, or hrmjal. This is of an 
elongated form and purple color. It is somewhat largely eaten on the 
Continent, and to some extent also in England; but it is dry and spongy, 
and devoid of the agreeable qualities belonging to the tomato. In 
America it is a favorite vegetable, and is there usually sliced and fried. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



isr 



ESCULENT FUNGI. 

The fungi are low vegetable products, which are characterized chemi- 
cally by the large amount of nitrogenous matter they contain. In this 
respect, indeed, they are closely allied to animal substances. On the 
Continent a considerable number of varieties are consumed, but in Eng- 
land, from suspicion of the possession of dangerous properties, the selec- 
tion is restricted mainly to three, viz., the tnushroom^ morel, and truffle. 
The following is the chemical composition of these, according to the 
analyses of Payen: 

Compositio7i of Edible Fungi (Payen). 



Nitrogenous matter and traces of sul- 
phur, 

Fatty matter 

Cellulose, dextrine, saccharine mat- 
ter, mannite, and other non-nitro- 
genous principles, 

Salts (phosphates and chlorides of 
the alkalies, lime, and magnesia), 
silica, 

Water, 



Mushrooms. Morels. White tniffles. Black truffles. 



4.680 
0.396 



3.456 

0.458 
91.010 



100.000 



4.40 
0.56 

3.68 

1.36 
90.00 



100.00 



9.958 
0.442 

15.158 

2.102 
72.340 



100.000 



8.775 
0.560 

16.585 

2.070 
72.000 



100.000 



In the dried state, mushrooms contain, Payen states, 52, morels 44, 
white truffles 36, and black truffles 31 per cent, of nitrogenous matter. 

Mushrooms. — Belonging to the mushroom tribe is a large number of 
varieties, many of which are suitable for eating, whilst other possess poi- 
sonous properties. The Agaricus carnpestris constitutes the common 
edible mushroom. It is found springing up spontaneously in our pas- 
tures during the months of August, September, and October, and is also 
cultivated in beds, and thence obtainable all the year round. It is a na- 
tive of most of the temperate regions of both hemispheres. It produces 
a spreading filamentous or thread-like underground structure, called the 
mycelium or spawn. From this, little tubers spring, which rapidly en- 
large, and grow into a stalk, bearing at its summit a rounded head, which, 
in a short time, expands into a pileus or cap. This, which forms the 
edible portion, constitutes the fructification, and presents upon its under- 
surface a number of parallel plates or gills, that bear the sporules of the 
fungus. 

Mushrooms are employed for flavoring, and as an occasional delicacy, 
rather than as a common article of food. Although difficult of digestion, 
and, therefore, not adapted for the weak stomach, they may, neverthe- 
less, be consumed by most healthy persons without proving hurtful. 
Sometimes, however, probably from idiosyncrasy on the part of the indi- 
vidual, they give rise to more or less serious derangement. They are 
eaten in the fresh state, either broiled, baked, or stewed, and are also 
preserved by pickling. The young or button mushrooms are used for the 



188 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AISTD DIETETICS. 

latter purpose. Ketchup (besides being made from the walnut) is pre- 
pared from their juice, flavored with salt and aromatics. 

The resemblance between mushrooms and their companion non-edible 
growths — toadstools — is so close, that mistakes have sometimes arisen and 
serious consequences resulted from the wrong fungus being eaten. It is 
not easy to give precise rules that will serve to distinguish the wholesome 
from the poisonous product; but, as affording some assistance, the follow- 
ing particulars bearing on the point may be furnished. Mushrooms, when 
young, are like a small, round button, with the exterior of both the stalk 
and head white. As they grow larger, the head expands, assuming a 
flat or discoidal shape, and the gills underneath are at first of a pale flesh 
color, but afterward become dark brown or blackish. The skin upon the 
top of the cap or disc peels off easily. The flesh is white, compact, and 
brittle, not soft and watery. They have an agreeable odor, and grow, 
for the most part, in open, closely fed pastures — rarely in woods. Toad- 
stools, on the other hand, grow freely in woods, or shady, damp places. 
They have, in general, an unpleasant smell, and the gills are of a brown 
color. A sure test, says Dr. Christison, indicative of a poisonous fungus, 
is an astringent, st3"ptic taste, and perhaps, also, a disagreeable, but cer- 
tainly a pungent odor. He says, also, that most fungi which have a warty 
cap, and more especially if fragments of membrane are seen adhering to 
their upper surface, are poisonous. In the absence of practical know- 
ledge of the different varieties, the golden rule to observe is, to reject all 
kinds of fungi, which are disagreeable to smell and taste — or stated con- 
versely, to select those only which possess \\\q well-known agreeabla 
aroma and flavor of the common edible mushroom. The effects produced 
by the poisonous fungi are of a narcotico-acrid nature. The usual symp- 
toms are pain or uneasiness in the stomach, vomiting, purging, a sense of 
constriction in the throat, distress of breathing, giddiness, fainting, 
prostration, and stupor. Sometimes the brain symptoms predominate, and 
the sufferer is thrown into a state of coma; at other times the effects are 
chiefly manifested upon the alimentary canal, and s^^mptoms allied to 
those of cholera are observed. Sometimes, also, the effects have come on 
within a few minutes after the fungi have been eaten, whilst at other 
times they have been delayed for several hours. Recovery has generally 
occurred after a longer or shorter period, but a few instances have been 
recorded where a fatal termination has been observed. Some persons, as 
already mentioned, are, through idiosyncrasy, injuriously affected by the 
ordinary edible mushrooms, but the effects in such cases are usually con- 
fined to vomiting, purging, and colic. 

The active principle of the poisonous fungi has recently been separ- 
ated from the A.garicus inuscarius by Schmiedeberg of Strasburg, and 
named by him muscarin. From the investigations conducted by its dis- 
coverer, it appears to have the power of checking in a very striking man- 
ner the action of the heart. Dr. Lauder Brunton * has also found that it 
causes marked contraction of the pulmonary vessels, and thereby dimin- 
ishes the flow of blood through the lungs to such an extent that the gen- 
eral arteries are brought to a nearly empty condition. A further dis- 
covery, which promises to prove of practical importance, is that these effects 
of muscarin are in a very complete manner counteracted by the active 
principle of belladonna. The merest trace of muscarin, it is stated, will 
almost instantaneously arrest the pulsations of the frog's heart, and the 

* British Medical Journal, p. 617, November 14, 1874. 



ALIMENTARY "SUBSTANCES. 189 

effect will be permanent unless a little atropine be afterward employed, 
when the pulsations will be resumed. It remains to be seen whether the 
administration of belladonna, or the subcutaneous injection of atropine will 
prove effectual as an antidote in cases of mushroom-poisoning. 

Although fungi constitute an important article of diet of large num- 
bers of people in France, Germany, Russia, and Italy, the prejudice 
from mistrust in England is such that nearly all except the common mush- 
room {Agaricus campestris) are neglected. Rocques has called them 
"the manna of the poor," and so large is the consumption of fungi in 
Rome, that the appointment of an official inspector was made in 1837. 
In Terra del Fuego, the inhabitants almost live upon a species of mushroom 
( Cyttaria Darwinii) which grows on the bark of the beech of that coun- 
try; and in Australia, many species of Boletus are eaten by the natives, 
one of them {3Iylittus Atistralis) is commonly known as Australian 
bread ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

Dr. Badham, in his work on "The Esculent Funguses of England," 
writes: "No country is perhaps richer in esculent funguses than our 
own; we have upward of thirty species abounding in our woods. No 
markets might therefore be better supplied than the English, and yet, 
England is the only country in Europe where this important and savory 
food is, from ignorance or prejudice, left to perish ungathered." Dr. 
Badham's work (1847) contains descriptions of twenty-nine species of 
Agaricus, three of Boletus, three of Polyporus^ and many others. 

Attempts have been made of late years to break through the popular 
prejudice against many species of edible fungi, ar^d the Rev. M. J. Berke- 
ley, the most distinguished mycologist in England, attended the Food 
Committee of the Society of Arts ( Vide Journ. of the Soc. of Arts, p. 467, 
May 15, 1868), to give information on the subject. 

The members of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club have paid special 
attention to the discovery of edible fungi, and on October 9, 1868, a 
meeting was arranged at Hereford for the purpose of making a " Foray 
among the Funguses." A large number were collected, which were eaten 
at the dinner that was given after the excursion. Among these were the 
Fistulina hepatica, the liver fungus or vegetable beef-steak, one speci- 
men of which was nearly two feet in diameter and weighed about 10 or 
12 lbs., and the Agaricus prunulus or Orcellay called vegetable sweet- 
bread. 

The Mokel. — The common morel {Morchella esculenta), though a na- 
tive of this country, is usually imported for use from the Continent. It 
is kept in a dried state, and sold at Italian warehouses, and by the her- 
balists at Covent Garden. In the fresh state it consists of a hollow stem 
and rounded head continuous with each other. It enters as a flavoring in- 
gredient into some made dishes, and is sometimes also stewed and eaten 
separately, like the mushroom. 

Truffles. — The truffle forms a subterraneous fungus, which never ap- 
pears above the surface. It grows in light, dry soiJs, and is found in 
several parts of England: more especially on the Downs of Wiltshire, 
Hampshire, and Kent. It is more plentiful in France, and there acquires 
a larger size and choicer flavor. The most esteemed, on account of the 
richness of their aroma, are those which are obtained from the oak forests 
of Perigord. There are three varieties: the black, white, and red or vio- 
let. The latter is rare, and of the two former the black is held in by far 



190 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

the higher repute. The white, indeed, is considered of comparatively 
little value. To be in perfection, truffles should be quite fresh, much of 
their aroma being lost by keeping. The black truffle is nodulated on the 
surface, and, as met with in the market, varies in size from that of a fil- 
bert or plum to that of the fist. Internally, it is marbled with white, 
filamentous streaks, which have been regarded as constituting a sort of 
mycelium. 

As they do not appear above the surface, there is nothing to indicate 
the locality of their growth, but their odor leads to their being scented 
out by animals employed for the purpose. In England, dogs are trained 
for this work. They scratch and bark over the spot where the truffles 
grow, and then men dig them out. In France, pigs are used in the same 
way. This animal appears to be very fond of them, and on discovering 
their situation turns up the ground with its snout in search of them. 

Truffles are considered, particularly on the Continent, an article of 
the greatest delicacy. Their firm and toughish consistence renders them 
indigestible, but they are esteemed for the sake of their peculiar aroma. 
Whilst being seldom eaten alone, they are often used as a stuffing, and 
form also a frequent ingredient of made dishes, besides being employed 
to flavor gravies and sauces. 



FEUITS. 

The term fruit, in botanical language, signifies the seed, with its sur- 
rounding structures, in progress to or arrived at maturity. In a popular 
and dietetic sense it has a more limited signification, and refers in a gene- 
ral way only to such product when used in the manner of a dessert. Bo- 
tanically, wheat, peas, beans, etc., constitute fruits, but popularly the term 
is restricted to articles like apples, pears, plums, grapes, etc. 

Fruits consist of two parts — the seed^ and what is technically called 
the pericarp. The latter comprises that which surrounds the seed, and is 
composed of the epicarp^ the external integument or skin; the endocarp 
or putanien, the inner coat or shell; and the sarcocarp or mesocarp, the 
intermediate part, which generally possesses a more or less fleshy consist- 
ence. It is the sarcocarp which forms the edible succulent portion of the 
fruit. 

The flower, and thence the fruit, is formed from modifications of the 
leaf, and in an early stage the fruit is green^ and exhibits much the same 
chemical composition and general comportment as the leaf. It is only as 
maturity advances that its special characteristics become developed. At 
first, like other green parts of the plant, it absorbs and decomposes the 
carbonic acid of the atmosphere under the influence of light, liberating 
oxygen and assimilating the carbon. During its progress, it increases 
more or less rapidly in bulk and weight; and, as it approaches maturity, 
it loses its green color, becomes brown, yellow, or red, and no longer acts 
on the air like the leaves, but, on the contrary, absorbs oxygen and gives 
out carbonic acid. As this process advances, some of the proximate 
principles contained in the unripe fruit, particularly the vegetable acids 
and tannin, in part disappear, apparently by oxidation, and, thus, it be- 
comes less sour and astringent. At the same time the starch undergoes 
transformation into sugar, and the insoluble pectose into pectin and 
other soluble substances of allied composition and having more or less of 
a gelatinous character. The fruit in this way arrives at a state of per- 



ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES. 191 

fection for eating-. Oxidation, however, still advances, and now the 
suo-ar and remaining acid become destroyed, giving rise to the loss of 
flavor which occurs after the full ripened state has been attained and 
deterioration has set in. Finally if the changes are allowed to pursue 
their ordinary course, the pericarp undergoes decay and the seed is set 

free. 

The agreeable taste of fruits partly depends on the aroma, and partly 
on the existence of a due relation between the acid, sugar, gum, pectin, 
etc., and likewise the amount of water and the soluble and insoluble con- 
stituents. Luscious fruits like the peach, greengage, and mulberry, which 
seem to melt in the mouth, contain a very large proportion of soluble sub- 
stances. A due proportion of gum, pectin, and other gelatinous sub- 
stances, serves to mask the taste of the free acid, if present in a some- 
what large proportion as compared with the sugar. Such is the case 
with the peach, apricot, and greengage, which contain but a small amount 
of sugar as compared with the free acid, but a large proportion of gura 
and pectous substances. The sour taste of certain berry fruits, as the 
currant and gooseberry, arises from the presence of a considerable quan- 
tity of free acid, with only a small amount of gum and pectin to disguise 
it. By cultivation, the proportion of sugar may be increased in fruits, 
as is instanced by the difference existing between the wild and cultivated 
strawberry and raspberry (" Watts' Dictionary of Chemistry," Art. Fruit). 

Fruit forms an agreeable and refreshing kind of food, and, eaten in 
moderate quantity, exerts a favorable influence as an article of diet. Its 
proportion of nitrogenous matter is too low, and of water too high, to al- 
low it to possess much nutritive value. It is chiefly of service, looking at 
the actual material afforded, for the carbohydrates, vegetable acids, and 
salts it contains. It enjoys in a high degree the power of counteracting 
the unhealthy state found to be induced by too close restriction to dried 
and salted provisions. The preserved juice acts in this way equally as 
well as the fresh fruit, and the juice of certain fruits — the lemon and 
lime, for instance — as is well-known, is specially and largely used for its 
antiscorbutic efficacy. 

Whilst advantageous when consumed in moderate quantity, fruit, on 
the other hand, proves injurious if eaten in excess. Of a highly suc- 
culent nature, and containing free acids and principles prone to undergo 
change, it is apt, when ingested out of due proportion to other food, to 
act as a disturbing element, and excite derangement of the alimentary 
canal. This is particularly likely to occur if eaten either in the unripe 
or over-ripe state: in the former case, from the quantity of acid present; 
in the latter, from its strong tendency to ferment and decompose within 
the digestive tract. The prevalence of stomach and bowel disorders, 
noticeable during the height of the fruit season, affords proof of the in- 
conveniences that the too free use of fruit may give rise to. 

The effect of fruit is to diminish the acidity of the urine. The alka- 
line vegetable salts which it contains become decomposed in the system, 
and converted into the carbonate of the alkali, which passes off with the 
urine. By virtue of this result, the employment of fruit is calculated to 
prove advantageous in gout and other cases where the urine shows a ten- 
dency to throw down a deposit of lithic acid. 

In the following description of fruits no strict classification will be 
attempted. There are some fruits, however, that admit of being con- 
veniently grouped together, and these will be made to follow each other. 
The pomaceous group, for instance, forms a natural assemblage, and in- 



192 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



eludes the apple, pear, quince, etc. The orange or citron group includes, 
besides the orange and citron, the lemon, lime, shaddock, and pomelo. 
Drupaceous fruits are those provided with a hard stone, surrounded by a 
fleshy pulp, such as the plum, peach, cherry, olive, date, etc. Fruits of 
the baccate or berry kind comprise the grape, gooseberry, currant, cran- 
berry, barberry, and others. Stravyrberries, raspberries, blackberries, and 
mulberries, although in name compounded of the word berry, constitute a 
fruit of quite a diii'erent nature. 

The Apple. — The apple {Pyrus malus), of which there are now very 
numerous varieties, is derived by cultivation from the wild crab, a native 
of Britain and other parts of Europe. The smallest apples grow in Si- 
beria, and the largest in America, where many new varieties have origi- 
nated, and the fruit has attained its highest perfection. Their Newtown 
pippin is considered by the Americans to stand at the head of all apples, 
native or foreio:n. 

The apple forms one of the most useful and plentiful of British 
fruits. It is introduced into tarts and puddings, besides being employed 
at the dessert-table and made into sauce, preserve, and jelly. It also fur- 
nishes the fermented beverage called cider. Verjuice is the fermented 
juice of the crab-apple. 

In a raw state the apple must not be looked upon as easy of diges- 
tion. In a cooked state, however, it is light and digestible. Roasted 
apples exert a slightly laxative action, and are often employed as an 
agreeable means of overcoming habitual constipation. 

Large quantities of apples are dried and flattened in America and 
Normandy, producing what are known as *' biffins " and " Normandy pip- 
pins." These are prepared for use by stewing. 



Composition of Apples (Fresenius). 

Soluble Matter — > 

Sugar, ........ 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid). 
Albuminous substances, ..... 

Pectous substances, etc., ..... 

Ash, ......... 

Insoluble Matter — 

Seeds, . . . . 

Skins, etc., ....... 

Fectose, . . . . . . . 

[AsJtfrom insoluble matter included in iceights given], 

Water, . 



White dessert. 

7.58 

1.04 

0.22 

2.72 
0.44 

0.38 

1.42 

1.16 

[0.031 

85.04 



100.00 



The Pear. — The pear (Pyrus commiuiis), like the apple, is indigen- 
ous to this country, but the wild pear is a very insignificant fruit. It 
flourishes in a warm, moist atmosphere, and Jerse}'" is considered to be 
the most favorable situation for its growth in all Europe. There is a 
larger number of the varieties of the pear than of the apple. The jar- 
gonelle, bergamot, and Beurre form three of the most highly esteemed va- 
rieties. The fruit is chiefly used for dessert, but is also stewed and made 
into compote and marmalade. Perry is obtained from the fermented 



ALIMEIS^TARY SUBSTANCES. 193 

juice. The best varieties of pear form a very choice and delicate fruit, 
and when in proper condition for eating, it is soft and more digestible 
than the apple. Hard pears to be rendered wholesome, require to be 
subjected to cooking. 

Compositio7i of JPears (Fresenius). 

Sweet Red. 

Soluble Matter — ,- -^ ^ 

Sugar, 7.000 7.940 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), . 0.074 trace. 

Albuminous substances, ..... 0.260 0.237 

Pectous substances, etc., ..... 3.281 4.409 

Ash, 0.285 0.284 

Insoluble Matter — 

Seeds, ......... 0.390 ) q ^ift 

Skins, etc., 3.420 [ ^"'^'* 

Pectose, ......... 1.340 0.605 

[Ash from insoluble matter indudedimoeights given], . [0.0501 [0.049] 

Water, 83.950 83.007 



100.000 100.000 

The Quince. — The quince {JPi/rtts cydonia or Cydonia vidgaris) was 
cultivated by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and is now grown through- 
out temperate climates. The fruit, which, like the apple and pear, be- 
longs to the pomaceous group, is in some varieties globose, in others pear- 
shaped, and has a rich yellow or orange color, with an agreeable odor 
taken singly, but a strong, disagreeable smell when stowed away together 
in quantity. In Persia it ripens so as to be eatable in a raw state, but in 
Europe it never ripens sufficiently to allow of its being eaten previous to 
being cooked. It is stewed with sugar, and frequently added to apple- 
tarts, the flavor of which it greatly improves. It also furnishes an ex- 
cellent marmalade — a preserve which takes its name from the Portugese 
word for quince, marmelo. The seeds are employed for the mucilage 
they yield. 

The Medlar. — The medlar (Mespilus germanicd) is a native of 
various parts of Europe, and grows wild in Great Britain. The fruit, 
which is only eaten when its tough pulp has become soft by incipient 
decay, has a very peculiar flavor. 

The Service. — The service (JPyrus domestica or Sorhns domestica) is 
a native of Italy, Germany, and France, and has been found wild in Eng- 
land. The fruit has a peculiar acid flavor. It requires, like the medlar, 
to be kept until it is over-ripe. It is not much eaten in England, as it is 
considered inferior to the medlar. 

The Orange. — The common or sweet orange ( Citrics axirantiuin) is 
supposed to be a native of the Eastern and Central parts of Asia. It does 
not appear to have been known to the Greeks and Romans, and was 
probably introduced into Italy in the fourteenth century, above a thou- 
sand years after the citron. 

The oran^-e is one of the most useful and ao-reeable of common fruits. 
13 



194 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

It is exceedingly grateful and refreshing to the palate, and in the ripe 
sate is so little likely to occasion disorder as to be admissible under al- 
most every condition both of sickness and of health. 

Several varieties of orange exist. The following are the chief en- 
countered in ordinary use. The Portugal or Lisbon orange, which is 
characterized by the thickness of its rind, is the most common of all. 
The China orange, which is said to have been brought by the Portuguese 
from China, has given rise to the St. Michael's as a sub-variety, and this is 
one of the most highly esteemed on account of its sweet and abundant juice. 
Its rind is smooth and thin. The Maltese or blood-orange is remarkable 
for the blood-red color of its pulp. The Tangerine orange is small and 
flat, and valued chiefly for the aroma belonging to it. The peel, particu- 
larly, is charged with a large quantity of volatile oil lodged in round or 
vesicular receptacles, easily discernible beneath the outer surface. The 
egg orange is known by its oval shape. The Majorca orange is seedless. 

The sweet orange is pretty largely used by the cook and confectioner, 
as well as being consumed as a fresh fruit. 

The Seville or bitter orange ( Citrus vulgaris) is characterized by its 
taste and the amount of aromatic volatile oil contained in its rind. It is 
too bitter to be agreeable for eating in the raw state, but forms the best 
kind of orange for making wine and marmalade, and, for these purposes 
it is extensively employed. The rind is used for its aromatic bitterness 
as a stomachic and tonic, and also simply as a flavoring agent. The 
flavor of Ourayoa is derived from it. The best orange-flower water is 
distilled from the flowers of this variety of the orange tree. 

The Lemon. — The lemon ( Citrus limonium) is a native of the North 
of India. The fruit is oblong, wrinkled or furrowed, and of a pale yellow 
color. In the common variety the pulp is very acid, but in the variety 
called the sweet lemon the juice is sweet. 

Lemons are extensively used to give flavor to many articles of food. 
The juice possesses valuable anti-scorbutic properties, and made into 
lemonade constitutes one of the most popular of refreshing beverages. 
The rind contains a volatile oil and bitter principle which renders it use- 
ful as an aromatic and stomachic. In a candied state it is employed as a 
dessert and in confectionery. The fruit is occasionally made into wine 
in the same way as the orange. 

The CiTROisr. — The fruit of the citron tree ( Citrus medicci) is larger 
and less succulent than the lemon, and of a strongly acid taste. The 
peel is very thick and the surface warty and furrowed. The citron is not 
suitable for eating in the natural state. Its juice mixed with water and 
sweetened forms an excellent refrigerant and antiscorbutic drink. Its 
peel is candied in the same way as that of the orange and lemon. 

The Lime. — The common lime ( Citrus acida) is a native of India and 
China, but has long been cultivated in the West Indies and the South of 
Europe. The fruit is similar to the lemon, but smaller in size. It has a 
thin rind and an extremely acid juice, which is largely used for its anti- 
scorbutic virtue. The sweet lime ( Citrus linietta) is a variety cultivated 
in the South of Europe, which has a pulp of a less acid nature. 

The Shaddock. — The fruit of the shaddock ( Citrus decuniana) is 
large, and from the thickness of its skin will keep longer on sea voyages 
than any of the other species of citrus. The pulp is of a mixed red and 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



195 



white color and has a moderately acid taste. It forms a pleasant re- 
freshing fruit and is frequently made into a preserve. 

The Pomelo. — The pomelo or pompelmoose {^Citrus pompelmoos) 
closely resembles the shaddock, of which it is sometimes regarded as a va- 
riety. Its flavor is pleasant and approaches that of the orange. It is this 
fruit which is sometimes sold in the London shops as the '* forbidden fruit.'* 

The Pomegranate. — The pomegranate {Punica granata) has been 
cultivated in Asia from ancient times, and has long been naturalized in 
the South of Europe. The fruit is of about the size of a large orange, 
and possesses a thick leathery rind of a fine golden yellow color with a 
rosy tinge on one side. The central part is composed of cells filled with 
numerous seeds, each of which is surrounded with pulp and separately 
enclosed in a thin membrane. The pulp has a sweetish, styptic, and 
slightly bitter taste. The rind is much more strongly astringent, and is 
sometimes used in medicine on account of this property. The fruit is 
also sometimes employed for its refrigerant and mildly astringent qualities. 

The Plum. — The common plum {Prurms domestica) is supposed to 
be a native of Asia Minor, but it has long been naturalized in England. 
The wild sloe {Pi'unus spinosa) which is found growing in hedges, forms 
the parent of the plum. From this is first derived the bullace [Prunus 
insititia)^ and from the bullace, afterward the plum. The varieties of 
the plum are numerous.. They range in quality from a delicious dessert 
fruit to one fit only for tarts and preserves. 

The Damson or Damascene plum is so called from being derived 
originally from Damascus. The Greengage^ which is known in France 
as the Peine Claude^ may be looked upon for sweetness and richness of 
flavor as the choicest kind of plum. The purple gage is a new variety 
lately introduced by the French under the name of Peine Claude molette. 

Composition of Plums (Fresenius). 



Soluble Matteb — 

Sugar, 

Free acid (reduced to equiva- 
lent in malic acid), 
Albuminous substances, 
Pectous substances, etc., 
Ash, ....... 



Insoluble Matter — 

Seeds, 

Skins, etc., 

Pectose, 

\^Ash from insoluble matter in- 
cluded in weights given\, 

Wateb, 



Mirabelle, 

common 

yellow. 



3.584 
0.582 

0.197 

5.772 
0.570 



5.780 
0.179 
1.080 



[0.082] 

82.256 



100.000 



Dark black- 
red. 



2.252 

1.331 

0.426 
5.851 
0.553 

3.329 
1.020 

[0.0631 

85.238 
100.000 



Common 

Mussel. 



5.793 

0.952 

0.785 
3.646 
0.734 

3.540 
j 1.990 
( 0.630 

[0.094] 

81.930 
100.000 



Greengage, 
large green, 
very sweet. 



3.405 

0.870 

0.401 

11.074 

0.398 



2.852 
1.035 
0.245 

[0.037] 

79.720 
100.000 



196 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Large quantities of plums are imported and consumed as a dried 
fruit. The commoner kind are known by the name of Primes, the 
choicer kinds by that of French plums. 

Plums are more apt than most other fruits to produce disorder of the 
bowels, attended with griping and diarrhoea, and should, therefore, only 
be eaten in moderate quantity. In both the unripe and over-ripe state 
they must be regarded as decidedly unwholesome. Cooking renders 
them less objectionable. Some kinds possess so marked an astringency 
as scarcely to be eatable in a raw state. Prunes are often used for their 
laxative eifect by persons suffering from habitual constipation. 

The Cherry. — The common cherry ( Ceracas duracina) is supposed 
to have been a native of Syria and other parts of Western Asia. The 
varieties differ greatly in color. The pale, sweet, firm-fleshed JBigarreau 
forms the cherry most esteemed for dessert. The dark-skinned niorello 
constitutes the favorite for making preserves and for cherry brandy. 

Cherries, like plums, require to be eaten in moderation, on account of 
their tendency to disorder the bowels. In the unripe and unsound state 
they are particularly apt to do so. 

Kirchwasser is the name of a liqueur obtained from cherries. MaraS' 
chino, a sweeter and more agreeable liqueur, is also prepared from a deli- 
cately flavored variety of cherry grown in Dalmatia, and called marasca or 
marasquin. 

In speaking of cherries, it may be mentioned that serious results have 
sometimes arisen from the stones having been swallowed. These, like 
the stones of other fruits, are liable, if swallowed, to become impacted in 
the alimentary canal, and thence to occasion inflammation and its conse- 
quences. 

Composition of Cherries (Fresenius). 



SoiiUBLE Matter — 

Sugar, 

Free acid (reduced to equiva- 
lent in malic acid), 
Albuminous substances, 
Pectous substances, etc., 
Ash, 



Insoluble Matter — 

Seeds, 

Skins, etc., 

Pectose, 

\Ash from insoluble matter in- 
cluded in weights given], . 

Water, 



Sweet, light 
red-heart. 



13.110 
0.351 

0.903 

2.286 
0.600 



5.480 
0.450 
1.450 



[0.090] 

75.370 



100.000 



Very light 

heart, 

rather sour. 



8.568 
0.961 

3.529 
0.835 



3.244 
0.464 
0.401 

[0.0701 

81.998 



100.000 



Sweet black. 



10.700 

0.560 

1.010 
0.670 
0.600 



5.730 
0.366 
0.664 

[0.078] 

79.700 



100.000 



Sour. 



8.772 

1.277 

0.825 
1.831 
0.565 

5.182 
0.808 
0.246 

[0.0671 

80.494 
100.000 



The Peach. — The peach (Amygdahis persica) is a native of Persia 
and the North of India, and is now cultivated in all temperate climates. 
It thrives very freely and produces most plentifully in the United States, 



ALOIEJS^TARY SUBSTANCES. 197 

The peach forms one of the choicest and most luscious of fruits. The 
skin is downy or velvety, and its color varies from a dark reddish violet 
through many shades of crimson, green, or yellow, to the beautiful clear 
white of the American snow peach. The composition shows that the 
peach is notable for the small quantity of saccharine matter it contains in 
comparison with the other kinds of edible fruits. 

Composition of Peaches (Fresenius). 

Soluble Matter — Large Dutch. Similar variety. 

Sugar, 1.580 1.565 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), 0.612 0.734 

Albuminous substances, .... 0.463 ) -|-. q-^ 
Pectous substances, etc., .... 6.313) 

Ash, ■ . 0.422 0.913 

Insoluble Matter 

Seeds, . . 4.629 6.764 

g^^f'^*^-' i 0.991 2.420 

Fectose, . . . . . . . ) 

[Ash from insoluble matter included in weights given], [0.042] [0.163] 

Water, 84.990 76.546 



100.000 100.000 

The Nectarine. — The nectarine constitutes merely a variety of the 
peach, probably produced by cultivation. It has been sometimes found 
growing on peach trees, and the Boston nectarine, which forms the finest 
kind known, was produced originally from a peach-stone. It differs from 
the peach in having a smooth and wax-like skin, and being of smaller size. 

The Olive. — The olive-tree ( Olea JSuroposa) is supposed to be origi- 
nally a native of Greece, but it has long been naturalized in France, Italy, 
and Spain. The fruit in the ripe state is black, and its fleshy part abounds 
in oil, which is expressed and used with us as salad oil and largely on the 
Continent for cooking. The ripe fruit is also sometimes eaten abroad, 
but it has a strong and, most persons would consider, a disagreeable 
taste. 

The olives imported into this country have been gathered green and 
soaked, first in strong lye and then in fresh water, to remove their rough 
and bitter taste before being preserved in a solution of salt, French, 
Spanish, and Italian olives are imported. The Spanish are much larger, 
and more bitter, rich, and oily than the others. Olives enter into the 
constitution of various dishes, are sometimes used to stimulate the appe- 
tite at the commencement of dinner, and also eaten at dessert as a relish 
and to cleanse the palate for the enjoyment of wine. 

The Date. — The date is derived from the Phoenix dactylifera, the 
date palm or palm tree of Scripture, a native of Africa and parts of Asia, 
and now brought into cultivation in the South of Europe. The tree bears 
its fruit in bunches which weigh from twenty to twenty-five pounds. 

Dates, both fresh and dried, form the chief food of the Arabs. Cakes 
of dates, pounded and kneaded together into a solid mass, constitute also 
the store of food, called the " bread of the desert," provided for African 



198 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



caravans on their journey through the Sahara. The fruit is of a drupa- 
ceous nature, and the fleshy part contains, according to the analysis of 
Reinsch, 58 per cent, of sugar, accompanied by pectin, gum, etc. 

The Apricot. — The apricot {Prunus armeniaca) is a native of Arme- 
nia, and was introduced into England in the time of Henry the Eighth. 
A good apricot, when perfectly ripe, is an excellent fruit, but when of 
inferior quality it eats dry and insipid. Unless quite ripe it is apt to 
prove laxative, and should not be eaten by delicate persons. In the cooked 
state it is more easy of digestion, and green apricots are often used for 
tarts. It makes one of the most highly esteemed of preserves. The ker- 
nels of some are sweet, of others bitter. From the bitter kind, Eau de 
Noyaux is distilled in France. 

Composition of Apricots (Fresenius). 



Soluble Matter — 

Sugar, 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic 

acid), 

Albuminous substances, 

Pectous substances, etc., 

Ash, 



Insoluble Matter — 

Seeds, 

Skins, etc., 

Pectose, 

[Ash from insoluble matte)' included in 
weights given], 

Water, 



m \ 



Fine, rather 
large. 



1.140 

0.898 



0.832 
5.929 
0.820 



4.300 
0.967 
0.148 



[0.071] 

84.966 



100.000 



Large, fine 
flavored. 



1.531 

0.766 

0.389 
9.283 
0.754 



3.216 
0.944 
1.002 

[0.104] 

82.115 



100.000 



Small. 



2.736 

1.603 

0.411 
5.562 
0.723 



3.415 
1.248 
0.750 

[0.060] 

83.552 



100.000 



The Grape. — The grape-vine {Vitis mniferd) is indigenous in the 
East, but was introduced into the South of Europe at a very early period. 
It produces fruit in the form of a globular or oval berr}'- with a smooth 
skin. The color of the fruit is very various, from white, yellow, amber, 
green, and red, to black. More than 1,500 varieties are described in works 
on the culture of the plant. 

In England the summer is not long and warm enough to thoroughly 
ripen the fruit in the open air, but some of the finest grapes produced 
are grown in the hot-houses of Great Britain. 

The grape is one of the most useful and highly esteemed of fruits. 
The skin and seeds are indigestible and should be rejected, but the juicy 
pulp possesses wholesome, nutritious, and refrigerant properties, and may 
usually be safely taken by the invalid. If eaten freely, the fruit exerts a 
diuretic and laxative action. Besides being useful as a fresh fruit, it is 
dried and imported under the form of raisins and currants, and, as is 
well known, furnishes the choicest of wines and spirits. 

The juice of ripe grapes, according to the analyses of Proust and 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 199 

Berard, contains a considerable quantity of grape-sugar, small quantities 

of a glutinous substance and of extractive matter, bitartrate of potash, 
tartrate of lime, a little malic acid, and other ingredients suspended or 
dissolved in water. 

Composition of Grapes (Fresenius). 

White Austrian Klienberger 

Soluble Matter — (qi^ite ripe). (quite ripe). 

Sugar, 13.780 10.590 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), 1.020 0.820 

Albuminous substances, ..... 0.832 0.622 

Pectous substances, etc., .... 0.498 0.220 

Ash, 0.360 0.377 

Insoluble Matter — 

Seeds, ....... ^ 

Skins, ....... \ 

Pectose, 0.941 0.750 

{Ash from insoluble matter included in weights given] ^ . [0.117] [0.077] 

Water, 79.997 84.870 



2.592 1.770 



100.000 100.000 

The amount of sugar varies considerably in different kinds of grape. 
In Fresenius' analysis of very ripe Oppenheim grapes it amounted to 
13.52 per cent.; over-ripe Oppenheim, 15.14 per cent.; red, very ripe As- 
mannshauser, 17.28 per cent.; and Johannisberg, 19.24 per cent. 

Maishis constitute grapes in a dried state. The process of drying is 
effected either by exposure to the sun or by the heat of an oven. The 
sun-dried grapes are the sweeter and better of the two. Sometimes the 
stalks of the ripened bunches of grapes are partially cut through, and the 
fruit allowed to dry spontaneously upon the vine. The muscatels, which 
form the finest sort, and are eaten at the dessert table, are prepared in 
this way. The Lexias are so called on account of being dipped into a 
lixivium of wood-ashes and olive oil before being dried. This disposes 
them to shrink and wrinkle, the alkaline solution serving to remove the 
waxy coat which impedes the drying of the berry. Sultanas are charac- 
terized by an absence of stones, whereby they save a great amount of 
trouble in the kitchen, but they are not sufficiently rich in flavor and 
sweetness to be advantageous for employment alone in puddings. Raisins 
abound more in sugar and less in acid than the fresh fruit. They are, 
therefore, more nutritious but less refrigerant. They are apt to derange 
the digestive organs if eaten freely. 

The so-called currants which are used in cakes and puddings, consti- 
tute the dried fruit of a vine which grows in the Ionian Islands (espe- 
cially Zante and Cephalonia) and yields a very small berry. The word 
currant, as here employed, is a corruption of Corinth, where the fruit was 
formerly produced. After being gathered and dried by exposure to the 
sun and air, the currants are heaped together and stored in magazines, 
where they become so firmly caked as to require digging out for packing 
into casks for exportation. Currants are of so indigestible a nature that 
they frequently pass through the alimentary canal without betraying any 
decided evidence of being acted upon. 



200 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



The Gooseberry. — The common gooseberry, or feaberry as it was in 
former times called [Hibes grossularia), grows wild in thickets and rocky 
situations, and is a native of many parts of Europe and the North of 
Asia. This fruit is comparatively neglected on the Continent, but has 
been brought to a high state of perfection in size and flavor in England by 
the attention which has been paid to its cultivation, more especially since 
the middle of the eighteenth century. 

The gooseberry forms a wholesome and useful fruit. Malic and citric 
acids blended with sugar give it its chief characteristics. It is made 
into tarts and puddings and eaten at the dessert table, besides furnishing 
a good preserve and a very passable wine. 



Composition of Gooseberries (Fresenius). 



SoiiUBiiE Matter — 

Sugar, 

Free acid (reduced to equiva- 
lent in malic acid), . 
Albuminous substances, 
Pectous substances, etc.. 
Ash, 



Insolubli; Matter — 

Seeds, 

Skins, etc., 

Pectose, 

\Ash from insoluble matter in- 
cluded in weights given] ^ 

Water, 



Large red. 



8.063 

1.358 

0.441 
0.969 
0.317 



2.481 
0.512 
0.294 



[0.146] 

85.565 



100.000 



Small red. 



6.030 

1.573 

0.445 
0.513 
0.452 

2.442 

0.515 

[0.0691 

88.030 



100.000 



Middle-sized 
yellow. 



6.383 

1.078 

0.578 
2.112 
0.200 

j 3.380 ) 

( 0.442 j 

0.308 

[0.100] 

85.519 



100.000 



Large smooth 
red. 



6.483 

1.664 

0.306 
0.843 
0.553 

2.803 

0.390 

[0.133] 

86.958 



100.000 



The Cranberry. — The common cranberry ( Oxy coccus palustris, 
formerly Vaccinium oxgcoccus) is a native of the colder regions of the 
Northern Hemisphere. The fruit is too acid to be eaten raw, but is in 
much request for tarts. 

Wine is made from it in Siberia. 

The American cranberry ( Oxycoccus macrocarpus) furnishes a larger 
fruit, but is not so highly esteemed. 

Another species, brought from Nova Scotia in 1760, is called snoio- 
berry, from the fruit being white. 

The Barberry. — The common barberry {Berber is vulgaris) grows 
widely distributed through the North of Europe, Asia, and America. It 
is found in woods, coppices, and hedges in England, especially on a chalky 
soil. The old English name for the plant is Pipperidge, or Piprage bush. 
The berries are of an elongated oval form, and, when ripe, generally of a 
bright red color, more rarely whitish, yellow, or almost black. They are 
too acid to be eaten in the fresh state, but make excellent preserves and 
jelly, and are also used to garnish dishes. Malic acid is prepared from 
them in France. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



201 



The Cueeant. — There are two varieties of the currant, viz., the red 
{Ribes ruhrum) and the black (Mihes nigrum). Both are natives of Europe 
and some parts of Asia and North America. Cultivation has produced 
the white currant from the red, and in Russia there are varieties of the 
black currant with yellow berries. The name currant is derived from the 
resemblance of the fruit to the Corinth raisins, or small grapes of Zante, 
commonly called Corinths or currants. 

Currants are employed in the same way as gooseberries, with which 
they pretty closely agree in their alimentary properties. A wine is made 
from the red currant and a liquor from the black. 

Composition of Currants (Fresenius). 



Middle-sized red. 



Very large 
red. 



Middle-sized 
white. 



Soluble Matter — 

Sugar, 

Pree acid (reduced to equiva- 
lent in malic acid), 
Albuminous substances, . 
Pectous substances, etc., 
Ash, 



Insoluble Matter — 

Seeds, 

Skins, etc., 

Pectose, 

\Ash from insoluble matter in- 
cluded in weights given], 



Water, 



4.78 

2.31 

0.45 
0.28 
0.54 



4.45 
0.66 
0.69 



[0.11] 

85.84 



100.00 



6.44 

1.84 

0.49 
0.19 
0.57 



4.48 

0.72 

[0.23] 

85.27 



100.00 



5.647 

1695 

0.356 
0.007 
0.620 



3.940 

2.380 

[0.185] 

85.355 



100.000 



7.12 

2.53 

0.68 
0.19 
0.70 



4.85 

0.51 

[0.14] 

83.42 



100.00 



The Eldeebeeey. — Elderberries are derived from the Sa'iuhucus 
nigra (the bourtree of the Scotch), which forms a native of Europe, and 
the North of Asia and of Africa. The berries are black in color (some- 
times, however, white), and have a faintly acid with an after-sweetish and 
unpleasant taste. They are rarely used except for making elder wine. 
The purple juice obtained by expression is called elder rob. It possesses 
mildly aperient, diuretic, and sudorific properties. 



The Bilbeeey. — The whortle-, hurtle-, bil- or blae-berry ( Vaccinium 
myrtillus) is a native of Great Britain, and grows in woods and on heaths 
or waste places in the North of Europe and of America. It furnishes a 
small round purple or almost black fruit, covered with a delicate azure 
bloom. This is sweet and agreeable to the taste, and is either eaten un- 
cooked with cream or made into tarts. The bog whortleberry or great 
bilberry ( Vaccinium uliginosum) has a larger fruit, but its flavor is in- 
ferior. 

The red whortleberry ( Vaccinium vitis idoea) is often called cran- 
berry, from the similarity of its acid fruit to the true cranberry. It is 
much esteemed for preserves. 



202 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Composition of Bilberries (Fresenius). 

Soluble Matter — 

Sugar, . . . ..... . 5.780 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), . 1.341 

Albuminous substances, etc., .... 0.794 

Pectous substances, etc., ..... 0.555 

Ash, 0.858 

Insoluble Matter — 

if^^^' ; • • i 12.864 

fekms, etc., .......) 

Pectose, .0.256 

[Ash from insoluUe maUer included in weights given] y . [0.550] 

Water, . 77.552 

100.000 

The Strawberry. — The common wood strawberry {Fragaria vesca) 
is indigenous in almost all temperate climates. The products which have 
been obtained by cultivation from this plant rank among the choicest and 
most tempting of summer fruits, and afford an example of one of the 
greatest triumphs of the gardener's art. The Alpine strawberry (Fraga- 
ria collina) is a native of Switzerland and Germany. The fruit is small, 
but produced in great abundance. 

Composition of Strawberries (Fresenius). 



SoijUbue Matter — 

Sugar, 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic 

acid), 

Albuminous substances, 

Pectous substances, etc., 

Ash, 



Insoluble Matter — 

Seeds, 

Skins, etc., , 

Pectose, 

\Ash from insoluble matter included in 
weights given], 

Water, 



Wild. 



3.247 
1.650 



0.619 
0.145 
0.737 



6.032 

0.299 

[0.315] 

87.271 



100.000 



4.550 

1.332 

0.567 
0.049 
0.603 

5.580 

0.300 

[0.345] 

87.019 



100.000 



Light red pine 
(quite ripe). 



7.575 

1.133 

0.359 
0.119 
0.480 



1.960 

0.900 

[0.1541 

87.474 



100.000 



The Raspberry. — The raspberry {Rubus idcmis) is a native of Great 
]3ritain and most parts of the world, but it has only been cultivated in 
gardens during the last one or two centuries. The fruit is wholesome and 
agreeable, but is not so much eaten at dessert in England as on the Con- 
It is, however, largely used for tarts and puddings under the 



P 
tinent. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



205 



form of a preserve, and for making raspberry vinegar. A wine is some- 
times prepared from the fermented juice. 

HubiiS arcticiis, a smaller variety, takes the place of the common 
raspberry in the colder regions of Northern Europe. 

Composition of Raspberries (Fresenius). 



Cultivated. 



Wild red. 



Soluble Matter — 

Sugar, 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic 

acid), 

Albuminous substances, 

Pectous substances, etc., 

Ash, 



Insoluble Maitek — 

Seeds, ) 

Skins, etc., \ 

Pectose, 

\Asli from insoluhle maitei' included in \ 
weights given\y . \ 

Water, 



3.597 
1.980 



0.546 
1.107 
0.270 



8.460 
0.180 
[0.134] 



83.860 



100.000 



Red. 



4.708 

1.356 

0.544 
1.746 
0.481 



4.106 

0.502 

[0.296J 

86.557 



100.000 



White. 



3.703 

1.115 

0.665 
1.397 
0.380 



4.520 

0.040 

[0.081] 

88.180 
100.000 



The Blackberry. — The blackberry {JRuhus fruticosus) is indigenous 
in Great Britain and the greater part of Europe, and grows wild as a 
shrubby bramble in hedges. The fruit is gathered by children for eating, 
and also for making into puddings. Jelly and jam are sometimes pre- 
pared from it as well as a wine. 

Composition of JBlacJcherries (Fresenius). 

Soluble IMatter — Very ripe. 

Sugar, 4,444 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), . 1.188 
Albuminous substances, ..... 0.510 
Pectous substances, etc., ..... 1.444 
Ash, 0.414 

Insoluble IVIatter- 

|f'?<^"' ; U.sio 

bkins, etc., ........ j 

Pectose, 0.384 

\^Ash from insoluble matter included 171 weights giveit]^ . [0.074] 

Water, 86.406 

100.000 

The Dewberry. — The dewberry or gray bramble {Huhiis ccesius) is a 
native of Britain and many parts of Europe and Asia; it is closely allied 



204 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

to the blackberry, but grows on the ground and not in hedges. The fruit 
is very sweet and agreeable, and makes an excellent wine. The dew- 
berry of North America {Hubus procimibens) bears a more acidulous and 
superior fruit to that of Britain. 

The Mulberey. — The black or common mulberry (Morus nigra) is a 
native of Persia, but is supposed to have been brought to Europe by the 
Romans. The fruit is of a purplish black color, with dark red juice, fine 
-aromatic flavor, and acidulous and sweet taste. It possesses wholesome, 
refrigerant, and slightly laxative properties, and is highly esteemed for 
dessert. An excellent preserve and an agreeable wine are made from it. 

Composition of Mulberries (Fresenius). 

Soluble Matter — Black. 

Sugar, 9.192 

Free acid (reduced to equivalent in malic acid), . 1.860 

Albuminous substances, ..... 0.394 

Pectous substances, etc., ..... 2.031 

Ash, 0.566 

Insoluble Matter — 

if?^^' 1-0.905 

okins, ) 

Pectose, 0.345 

[Ash from insoluble matter included m weights given] , . [0.089] 
Water, 84.707 



100.000 



The Melon.-— The melon ( Cucurnis melo) belongs to the gourd tribe. 
The fruit varies greatly in size, color, and the character of the rind. In 
«ome the rind is smooth and thin, in others thick and warty, and cracked 
in a net-like manner. The color of the flesh is green, red, and yellow. 
It is eaten with sugar at dessert, or with pepper and salt at dinner. When 
in perfection it forms a rich and delicious fruit, but, like its congeners, 
the cucumber, etc., it is sometimes apt to disagree. 

The water-melon ( CuGumis citrullus) is highly prized for its flavor and 
juiciness. This fruit is round, with a dark green spotted rind, and pink 
or white flesh. It is only eaten at dessert. 

The Pineapple. — The pineapple {Ananassa sativa) is a native of 
South America, whence it has been introduced into Africa and Asia. It 
was first cultivated in hot-houses in Holland and England at the end of 
the seventeenth century. It may be looked upon as furnishing the finest 
of dessert fruits. Besides being eaten in the fresh state, it is made into 
a, preserve with sugar, and otherwise employed by the confectioner. It 
is also used to flavor rum. 

The Fig. — The common fig (Ficus carica) is a native of Asia and 
Barbary, and has been naturalized in Greece, Italy, Spain, and the South 
of France, where the fruit forms an important part of the people's food. 
The fig-tree also grows in the open air in some of the milder parts of 
England, but its fruit fails to acquire the perfection in flavor belonging 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 205- 

to that produced in a warmer climate. The varieties cultivated are 
numerous, and the color of the fruit of some is bluish black, of others, 
red, purple, green, yellow, or white. The fruit is pear-shaped, and con- 
sists of a pulpy mass, containing many seed-like bodies. The amount of 
sugar present is exceedingly large. The figs grown in England have but 
little taste, and that of a somewhat sickly nature. Grown in warm 
countries, however, they form a rich and luscious fruit. Figs are largely 
imported in a dried and compressed state. The best are brought from 
Smyrna, and are known as Turkey figs. If freely eaten, they are apt tO' 
irritate and disorder the stomach and bowels. 

The Peickly Peae. — The prickly pear, or Indian fig ( Opuntia vul- 
garis)^ is a native of America, but is now naturalized in many parts of 
the South of Europe and North of Africa. It grows freely on the barest 
rocks, and spreads over expanses of volcanic sand and ashes too arid for 
almost any other plant to live. The fruit is somewhat like a fig, of a 
deep rose color, and rather larger than a hen's ^^^. The pulp is juicy, 
and its flavor, which to most palates will be considered of a sickly nature,, 
combines sweetness with acidity. It is not much known in England, but 
is largely eaten in some localities abroad. 

The Tamaeind. — There are two varieties of the tamarind — the East 
Indian (Tamarindus Indica), and the West Indian [Tamarindus occi- 
dentnlis). The fruit consists of a brown, many-seeded pod, filled with Or 
sweet and acidulous, reddish black pulp. The pod of the East Indian is 
much longer than that of the West Indian variety. According to the 
analysis of Vauquelin, tamarinds contain 9.40 per cent, of citric acid; 1.55 
per cent, of tartaric acid; 0.45 per cent, of malic acid; 3.25 per cent, of 
bitartrate of potash; and 12.5 per cent, of sugar, besides gum, vegetable 
jelly, parenchyma, and water. They are preserved by placing alternate 
layers of the fruit and sugar into a cask, and pouring over them boiling" 
syrup. 

The Plantain- and Banana. — The plantain (Musa paradisiaca) is- 
a native of the East Indies, but is now diffused all over the tropical and 
sub-tropical regions of the globe. It is so called on account of having 
been supposed to have furnished the fruit which tempted Eve in Para- 
dise. The banana {Musa sapientwin) appears to be only a variety of 
the plantain, bearing smaller, softer, and more delicately flavored fruit. 
Its name is due to its having formed the chief food of the Brahmins- 
or wise caste of India. They both constitute exceedingly productive 
plants, and it is asserted that an extent of ground which would only 
grow wheat enough for the support of two persons, would maintain fifty 
if cultivated with the plantain. Plantains and bananas furnish important 
and valuable articles of food to the inhabitants of many tropical regions. 
They even afford in some localities the chief alimentary support of the 
people. The fruit occurs in large bunches or clusters, which may weigh 
as much as fifty pounds. On stripping off the tegumentary part, a soft- 
ish core is met with, which is chiefly farinaceous in the unripe, and sac- 
charine in the ripe state; the starch becoming converted, it is stated, dur- 
ing maturation, first into a mucilaginous substance, and then into sugar. 
Plantain-meal is prepared by powdering and sifting the dried core of the 
plantain whilst in the green or unripe state. It has a fragrant odor, and 
a bland taste, like that of common wheat-flour. It is said to be easy of 



206 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

digestion, and to be extensively employed in British Guiana as the food of 
infants, children, and invalids. The larger proportion of it consists of 
starch, but it also contains a certain percentage of nitrogenous matter, 
and is, therefore, of higher alimentary value than the starchy prepara- 
tions, as sago, arrow-root, etc. 

Composition of the JPulp of Hipe bananas (Corenwinder). 

Nitrogenous matter, ...... 4.820 

Sugar, pectose, organic acid, with traces of starch, . 19.657 

Fatty matter, 0.632 

Cellulose, 0.200 

Saline matter, ........ 0.791 

Water, 73.900 



100.000 



The Guava. — The common or white guava (JPsidium pyriferum) is 
said to be a native of both the East and West Indies, where it is now 
much cultivated. It has also been grown as a stove plant in England. 
The fruit is roundish or oblong in shape, and rather larger than a hen's 
e,^^ in size. It has a smooth and yellow rind and a flesh-colored firm pulp 
full of hard seeds. It possesses a sweet aromatic taste, and is eaten raw 
and made into a preserve and jelly. The red guava {Psidium pomi- 
ferum), which is also common in both the East and West Indies, has a 
beautiful fruit crowned like a pomegranate; but it is strongly acid and 
not so agreeable to eat as that of the white. The China guava {Psidium 
CattleyaniioTi) is a native of the country its name bears, but it has been 
brought over to and grown in Europe, and is found to flourish in the open 
air in the South of France. The fruit is round and of a fine claret color. 
It has an agreeable acidulous taste and makes an excellent preserve. A 
dwarf species of guava called Marongaba {Psidium, pygm,CBU'm) grows on 
some of the mountains of Brazil. The fruit is about the size of a goose- 
berry, and is much esteemed on account of its delicious flavor, which bears 
some resemblance to that of the strawberry. 

The Mango. — The common Mango {Mangifera Indicd) grows into 
a large spreading tree, and is a native of India, but was introduced into 
Jamaica toward the end of the eighteenth century, and is now exten- 
sively cultivated in warm countries. The fruit, which contains a large 
flattened stone covered with fibrous filaments, is smooth and kidney- 
shaped, and varies in color and size, sometimes being as large as a man's 
fist. From its luscious character, and sweet and yet slightly acidulous 
taste, it is highly prized for dessert. The green or unripe fruit is made 
into tarts and also into pickles. In times of scarcity the kernels have 
been cooked and used as food. 

The Bread Fruit. — This is derived from the Artocarpus incisa, a na- 
tive of the islands of the Pacific and the Moluccas. The fruit is of a round 
or oval shape, and attains a size as large as that of a small loaf of bread. 
In an alimentary point of view, it occupies the same position amongst the 
inhabitants of Polynesia that is held by corn in other parts of the world. 
The Artocarpus iritegrifolia is cultivated throughout Southern India and 
all the warmer parts of Asia. Its fruit, called jak fruity is considerably 
employed as an article of food in Ceylon. 



ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES. 207 

The fruit of the Caroh Wee^ or St. John's bread {Ceratonia siliqua), 
is eaten in time of scarcity by the country people of the districts where it 
grows, and, as implied by its name, it has been supposed to have been 
the food of John the Baptist. It is a native of the countries skirting the 
Mediterranean, and is almost the only tree that grows in Malta ('' Baird's 
Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

The Date 2:>lii7n of China, or key fig of Japan (Diospyros Jcaki), is a 
native of China and Japan, and is frequently sent to Europe in a dried 
state ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

The fruit of the PersiTninon tree {Diospyros virginiana), a native of 
the United States, when fully ripe, is sweet and palatable. The fleshy 
part is separated from the seeds, and made into cakes, which are dried 
and preserved (" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

The fruit of the Chilian pine (Araucaria imhricata) is the chief food 
of the inhabitants of Chili and Patagonia. It is asserted that the pro- 
duce of one large tree will maintain eighteen persons for a year (*STohn- 
ston's Chemistry of Common Life," vol. i., p. 108). 

BAEK. 

The bark of trees is to some extent eaten in certain localities. The 
Jakuts of Northern Siberia grate the inner bark of the larch, and some- 
times of the fir, and mix it with fish, a little meal and milk, or by pref- 
erence with fat, and make it into a sort of broth (" Wrangell's Polar Sea," 
p. 23). The inhabitants of New Caledonia eat the bark of a tree after 
they have roasted it ("Cook's Second Voyage," vol. ii., p. 123); and the 
Laplanders and Fins make a kind of bread with the triturated internal 
layers of the bark of the pine (" Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

SAW-DUST AND WOODY FIBEE. 

In Sweden and Norway saw-dust is sometimes converted into bread, 
for which purpose beech, or some wood that does not contain turpentine, 
is repeatedly macerated and boiled in water to remove soluble matters, 
and then reduced to powder, heated several times in an oven, and ground. 
In this state it is said to have the smell and taste of corn-flour (" Tomlin- 
son's Cyclo. of Useful Arts," vol. ii., p. 926). 

Bread has been made in times of famine of a variety of substances; 
thus, in the years 1629, 1630, and 1693, very good, wholesome, white bread 
was made in England from boiled turnips. The moisture was pressed 
out of the turnips, and they were then kneaded with an equal quantity of 
wheaten-flour ("Beckman's History of Inventions," vol. i., p. 349, 1816). 

During the late siege of Paris, the bread served out constituted a very 
coarse and mixed article. In Sheppard's " Shut up in Paris," p. 309, it is 
stated to have been found by analysis to be comprised of one-eighth 
wheat; four-eighths potatoes, beans, peas, oats and rye; two-eighths 
water; and the remaining one-eighth straw, hulls of grain, and the skins 
of vegetable products. 

VEGETABLE BUTTEE. 

A vegetable butter is obtained from several species of J^assia, a genus 
of plants indigenous to tropical India and Africa. The seeds of the 
Massia butyracea, or Indian butter-tree, contain a substance which in the 



208 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

fresh state resembles butter, but which hardens by degrees and becomes 
like suet ("Baird's Cyclo. of Nat. Sci."). 

The Shea or African butter-tree (Cassia I*arkii) is nanned SifteT Mun go 
Park, who describes in his " Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa '^ 
the mode adopted by the natives to obtain the butter. " These trees," 
he says (vol. i, pp. 198-9, 1816), " grow in great abundance all over this 
part of Bambarra. They are not planted by the natives, but are found 
growing naturally in the woods; and in clearing woodland for cultivation, 
every tree is cut down but the shea. The tree itself very much resembles 
the American oak; and the fruit, from the kernel of which, being first 
dried in the sun, the butter is prepared, by boiling the kernel in water, 
has somewhat the appearance of a Spanish olive. The kernel is enveloped 
in a sweet pulp, under a thin green rind, and the butter produced from it, 
besides the advantage of its keeping the whole year without salt, is whiter, 
firmer, and to my palate of a richer flavor than the best butter I ever 
tasted made from cow's milk. The growth and preparation of this com- 
modity seem to be among the first objects of African industry in this 
and neighboring states; and it constitutes a main article of their inland 



SACCHARINE PREPARATIONS. 

Sugar forms an important alimentary principle, and is met with widely^ 
and in certain cases largely, amongst vegetable products, from some of 
which it is extracted for use. It also constitutes, under the name of lac-^ 
ti7ie, one of the ingredients of the animal food provided by nature for the- 
support of the young mammal — viz., milk. 

Sugar was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and its manu- 
facture is said by Humboldt to be of the greatest antiquity in China. 

Sugar evidently contributes toward force-production in the body, and, 
likewise, as is shown by ample evidence, toward the formation and accu- 
mulation of fat. Being of a soluble and diffusible nature, it needs no 
preliminary digestion for absorption, and, therefore, sits lightly on the 
stomach. It is, however, apt in some dyspeptics to undergo acid fer- 
mentation, and give rise to preternatural acidity of stomach and likewise 
flatulence. A popular notion prevails that it has a tendency to injure the 
teeth, but no trustworthy evidence that such is the case exists. 

The consumption of sugar in Great Britain in 1700 amounted to 10,000 
tons. In the year 1863-64 it had risen to 536,226 tons of unrefined, 
14,879 tons of refined, and 40,165 tons of cane-juice, syrup, and molasses. 
In relation to population, the amount stood at 30 pounds per head. In 
1866, the quantity consumed in England was at the rate of 38 pounds per 
head. 

Besides employment as a daily article of food, sugar constitutes the 
base of a variety of products of the confectioner's art. On account of its 
antiseptic virtue, it is also extensively used as a preservative of other sub- 
stances. Vegetable products, as fruits, etc., are those which are chiefly 
subjected to the influence it exerts in this direction, but animal substances 
can be equally well preserved by it. 

There are two main varieties of sugar. The one is familiar to us as 
the produce of the sugar-cane, and the other as contained in grapes an 1 
other kinds of fruit. The former variety is characterized by the facility 
with which it crystallizes, and by its strong sweetness of taste. It not 
only exists in the sugar-cane, but also in beet-root, in the sap of certain 



ALIMENTAKY SUBSTANCES. 209 

species of maple, in the stems of maize, and in some other vegetable pro- 
ducts. It is distinguished by the appellation crystalline or cane-sugar. 
The latter is imperfectly crystallizable, and of much inferior sweetness. 
It abounds in grapes and many other fruits and vegetable articles, and 
may also be obtained by the action of acids and ferments on cane-sugar, 
starch, gum, and licorice. It is known by the name of glucose or grape- 
sugar. These two varieties differ further in their chemical relations, and 
in the amount of the elements of water they contain. The various sac- 
charine products in common use consist in one or other of these varieties. 

Cane-sugar. — This, looked at as a specific product, is derived from the 
sugar-cane, or Saccharwn, a plant which appears to have come originally 
from the interior of Asia, whence it was transplanted to Cyprus. It was 
introduced into the West Indies, where it is now extensively cultivated, 
early in the sixteenth century. There are several varieties of Saccharum 
grown for the extraction of sugar, but the Creole cane, or Saccharum 
ojfficinarum, is that which was first introduced into the New World. 

The sugar is contained in the juice of the cane, and the first step in 
its manufacture is to obtain the juice by means of pressure, which is 
usually applied by iron rollers. The cane, when ripe, is cut close to the 
ground, stripped of its leaves, and then twice passed between the iron 
rollers. The expressed juice is next clarified and evaporated. This is 
effected by the combined use of heat and the addition of lime. Passing 
through a series of evaporating vessels, the scum and deposit are removed, 
and the liquor brought to the proper consistence. It is now transferred 
into coolers, for the crystals to form and separate from the uncrystalliz- 
able portion, which is allowed to drain off. The solidified product con- 
stitutes muscovado, or raw sugar, and is packed in hogsheads and dis- 
tributed to the consumer. The uncrystallizable portion, containing 
changed products resulting from the action of the heat, is called molasses. 

The juice of the sugar-cane contains about 18 to 22 per cent, of 
sugar, and six to eight pounds of it are required to yield one pound of 
the crystallized article. 

A large portion of the raw sugar is refined or transformed from brown 
or moist into white or loaf sugar before being used, and the process of 
refining is extensively carried on in this country. The object is to clar- 
ify and decolorise, and this is usually effected by boiling the dissolved 
sugar with bullock's blood, filtering, and allowing the liquor to percolate 
through coarsely grained animal charcoal. The nearly colorless liquid 
thence obtained is concentrated to the requisite degree in a vacuum pan 
heated with steam, and then transferred to conical moulds, where solidi- 
fication occurs. The unsolidified portion, which constitutes treacle, is 
afterward permitted to drain off, and loaf sugar is left. The article is 
still to some extent colored, and, as a finishing process, a saturated solu- 
tion of sugar is allowed to percolate through the loaf. This washes out 
the remaining coloring matter, and leaves the product in the white and 
porous condition observed to belong to the fully refined article. 

Sugar is also extracted from the root of the heet {Beta vulgaris), 
which contains nearly one-tenth part of its weight of the principle. The 
cultivation of the beet was recommended for the purpose as early as 1747, 
at Berlin, but nothing was practically carried out until Napoleon the 
First encouraged the proposal, and now the manufacture is successfully 
and extensively pursued in France, Belgium, and Russia. In England a 
beet-sugar factory has been established at Lavenham, in Suffolk. The 
juice of the root is obtained and submitted to the same kind of treatment 
14 



210 A TEEATISE OlST FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

as that of the sugar-cane, and in the refined state the two sugars resem- 
ble each other. 

A considerable portion of the sugar used in the northern parts of 
North America is obtained from a variety of maple, the Acer sacchari- 
num. Incisions are made into the tree, to allow the sap to escape. This 
is collected and concentrated to crystallizing point. It yields then a 
coarse sugar, which, however, admits of being purified and brought into 
the same state as the refined sugar of the cane and beet. 

The green stalks of m.aize, or Indian corn, are largely impregna- 
ted with sugar, and are sometimes employed for its extraction. Sugar 
was obtained from this source by the ancient Mexicans. The Sorghum^ 
saccharatum., or sugar-grass, is also gradually growing into importance 
as a source of sugar, both in North America and the south of Europe. 
In India a large amount of sugar, called jaggary, is obtained from the 
juice of various trees of the palm tribe. The date-palm {^Phoenix dacty- 
lifera), the wild date-palm [Phoenix silvestris), and the gomuto-palm 
{Saguerus saccharifer) , are all turned to account for this purpose, and 
the sugar is to some extent imported into England and used for mixing, 
but it is said not to be of sufficient " strength " to pay for refining. 

Parley-sugar. — When a concentrated solution of sugar is rapidly 
boiled down, its tendency to crystallize is diminished, and, it may be, 
even destroyed. On being allowed to cool, it solidifies into a transparent, 
amorphous mass, of a vitreous nature. It is in this way that barley- 
sugar is prepared, and the same principle also determines the production 
of acidulated drops, hardbake, toffee, etc. Sometimes a little cream of 
tartar is introduced to favor the action of the heat, and in the case of 
acidulated drops, tartaric acid is added whilst the liquid is boiling. 

Sugar-candy. — This is crystallized sugar, and is prepared by allowing 
a concentrated syrup to slowly deposit crystals on the surface of the ves- 
sel in which it is contained, and on threads stretched across it. Crushed 
sugar-candy forms the coarse crystalline article which is- often sold for 
sweetening coffee. 

JKolasses constitutes the dark-colored, viscid liquid which drains off 
during the preparation of raw sugar. The molasses which separates from 
beet-root sugar has a disagreeable taste, and is thereby unfit for employ- 
ment in the same way as that which is derivable from the sug-ar of the 
cane. 

Treacle. — As molasses constitutes the uncrystallized liquid which 
drains from raw sugar, so treacle forms that which escapes from the 
moulds in which refined sugar concretes. Both liquids contain uncrystal- 
lizable sugar, crystallizable sugar, gum, extractive matter, free acid, va- 
rious salts, and water. They are used as a cheap substitute for sugar. 
If consumed to any great extent, they exert a laxative action. 

Golden syrup is produced by reboiling the liquid which drains from 
refined sugar, and filtering through animal charcoal. It therefore con- 
stitutes a purified form of treacle. 

Caramel. — When crystallized sugar is heated to about 400° Fahr., it 
suffers decomposition, gives off the elements of water, loses its power of 
crystallizing, becomes dark-colored, and acquires a bitter taste in the 
place of a sweet one. The article thus produced is called caramel, and is 
used by the cook and confectioner as a flavoring and coloring agent. 

Glucose, or grape-sugar. — It has been already stated that it is to this 
modification of sugar that grapes and many other fruits owe their sweet 
taste, and that it may be produced artificially from cane-sugar, starch, 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 211 

and some other substances. Its separation from the juice of grapes, and 
likewise its manufacture from potato-starch and sago, have been to some 
extent carried out, and the product has formed an article of commerce, 
but its chief employment has been as an adulterant of cane-sugar. It is 
not used dietically upon its own merits in the same way as the latter. Its 
taste is less agreeably sweet, and its sweetening power is so far inferior, 
that five parts of grape-sugar are said to be required to raise a given vol- 
ume of w^ater to the same degree of sweetness as is effected by two parts 
of cane-sugar. It is also much less soluble in water, and less disposed to 
assume a crystalline form, on which account it is not susceptible of the 
same facility of purification. 

HoxEY. — Honey may be most conveniently referred to here, although 
not a preparation standing in precisely the same position as the other 
products included in the group. 

It is an article collected by the bee for its own use, which man takes 
possession of and consumes instead. It is an exudation from the nectar- 
iferous glands of flowers, which the bee sucks up and passes into the dila- 
tation of the oesophagus forming the crop or honey-bag. From this it is 
afterward disgorged, probably somewhat altered in its properties by the 
secretion of the crop, and deposited in the cell of the honey-comb. In 
Europe, it is principally through the Apis melUfica that honey is ob- 
tained, and it is bv the neuter or workins" member of the hive that the 
office is performed. The honey of Surinam and Cayenne, furnished by 
the Apis arnalthea, is red, and that supplied by the Ajns unicolor of 
Madao-ascar is of a orreenish color. 

Honey is a concentrated solution of sugar, mixed with odorous, color- 
ing, gummy, and waxy matters. It usually resolves itself into a fluid 
and a solid crystalline portion, which are separable from each other by 
pressure in a linen bag. Chemically, the saccharine matter is of two 
kinds: the one resembles that from the grape (glucose), whilst the other 
is uncrvstallizable, and analoo-ous to the uncrvstallizable suo-ar which ex- 
ists along with common sugar in cane-juice. Mannite, a non-fermenting 
kind of sugar, has also been met with. 

Honey varies in flavor and odor, according to the age of the bees and 
the flowers from which it has been collected. 

T^irgin honey, or that procured from young bees which have never 
swarmed, is held in higher estimation than that collected from a hive 
that has swarmed; but the term virgin honey is also applied to that 
w^hich flows spontaneously from the comb, on account of its being better 
than that obtained by the aid of pressure, and especially heat and pres- 
sure, this being contaminated with foreign matter derived from the comb. 
The honey, again, of certain countries and districts is well known to pos- 
sess special qualities dependent on the flora of the locality. Hence the 
fragrant odor and choice taste belonging to the honey of Mount Ida in 
Crete; the neighborhood of Narbonne, where the labiate flowers abound; 
the valley of Chamounix; and of the high moorlands of Great Britain 
when the heather is in bloom. Hence, also, the deleterious qualities which 
the honey of Trebizonde, upon the Black Sea, has long been known to 
possess, and which are due to its collection from a species of rhododen- 
dron, the Azalea pontica, which grows upon the neighboring mountains. 
The effects produced consist of headache, vomiting, and a kind of in- 
toxication; and, if eaten in large quantities, a loss of all sense and power 
for some hours may occur. It is said to have been probably this kind of 



212 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

honey which poisoned the soldiers of Xenophon, as described by him in 
the *' Retreat of the Ten Thousand." Many other instances of honey ex- 
erting poisonous effects have been recorded. 

Honey formed an alimentary article of great importance to the ancients, 
who were almost unacquainted with sugar; and certain localities, asHybla 
in Sicily, and Hymettus near Athens, were specially celebrated for its 
production. It is still pretty largely consumed dietetically in some dis- 
tricts, and possesses the same alimentary value as sugar. It exerts a 
slightly laxative action, and is frequently employed therapeutically as an 
emollient and demulcent. 

Manna. — Manna is a sweet substance, which solidifies from the juice 
of certain species of ash, especially Fraxinus ornus and rotundifolia. 
Incisions are made into the stem of the tree, and the juice allowed to es- 
cape and dry into solid masses. It contains a peculiar kind of sugar — 
mannite — which forms about four-fifths of the best manna. Mannite, 
which also exists to some extent in the beet-root and some other vegetable 
products, constitutes a white, crystallizable, odorless, and sweet principle, 
which diifers from ordinary sugar in not being susceptible of undergoing 
alcoholic fermentation in contact with yeast. 

The chief use to which manna is applied is as a mild and safe laxative. 
It possesses some nutritive value. Different sorts of manna are eaten by 
the natives of Australia ('* Eyre's Central Australia," vol. ii., p. 250). The 
peasants of Mount Libanus in Syria it is said, eat manna ordinarily as 
others do honey; and in Mexico they have a manna which is eaten as 
we eat cheese (" Forsyth's Diet, of Diet "). 



FAEINACEOUS PREPAEATIONS. 

Farinaceous or starchy matter is a product which is yielded by the 
vegetable kingdom only. Here, however, it is widely and often very 
largely met with. It occurs under the form of little granular bodies 
(starch-granules) lodged in the vegetable tissues, but readily susceptible, 
under appropriate treatment, of isolation. These granules possess a 
distinctly organized construction, and are made up of a series of super- 
posed layers, the outermost of which is the thickest and hardest. Thus 
are produced the concentric lines which are visible when the granule is 
submitted to microscopic examination, and which are arranged around a 
spot which is called the hilum. The granules from different sources pre- 
sent distinctive features as regards size, form, and appearance, which may 
be recognized with the aid of the microscope. 

Starch forms an important alimentary article. Being devoid of nitro- 
gen, it can contribute only toward force and fat-production. The hard- 
ness of the external envelope renders the granule in its original state dif- 
ficult of digestion — and digestion, which involves transformation into 
sugar, must occur before absorption and utilization can ensue. On this 
account, when starch is consumed in the raw state, more or less of it 
passes off with the undigested residue from the alimentary canal. By 
boiling, or otherwise exposing to heat, the granules rupture and become 
far more ea(Sily attacked by the digestive juices. Starchy matter, there- 
fore, should be subjected to cooking before being consumed. 

There are various starchy preparations in common use, an account of 
which will now be furnished. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 213 

Sago. — Sago is obtained from the central or medullary part, commonly- 
called pith, of the stems of several species of palm. When the tree is 
sufficiently mature, it is cut down near the root and split perpendicularly. 
The medullary matter is extracted, reduced to powder, mixed with water, 
and strained through a sieve. From the strained liquid the starch is de- 
posited, and, after washing with water and drying, forms the sago-flour, 
or meal, of commerce. A single tree is said to yield from five to six hun- 
dred pounds of sago. What is called sago-hread is made in the Moluccas 
by throwing the dry meal into heated earthenware moulds, which leads, 
in the course of a few minutes, to its incorporation or caking together 
into a hard mass. 

Granulated sago is prepared from sago-flour by mixing it with water 
into a paste, and then granulating. It consists oi pearl sago, which occurs 
in small spherical grains, and constitutes the kind now commonly em- 
ployed for dietetic purposes; and hrowii or common sago, which occurs 
in larger grains, and was the only kind used in England prior to the in- 
troduction of the first. Both sorts are met with variously tinted, but the 
tint is not uniform throughout, the surface of the grain being deep on 
one side and pale on the other. It may be rendered white by bleaching. 

Sago constitutes an important article of food in some parts of the 
East. It is used in household economy in England for introduction into 
soup, and under the form of pudding. It serves as a light and digestible 
alimentary material for the invalid and dyspeptic. It absorbs the liquid 
in which it is cooked, and becomes transparent and soft, but retains its 
original granular form. In 1863-64 the amount of sago imported into 
Great Britain was 7,306 tons. 

Cassava and Tapioca. — These starchy preparations are obtained from 
the large, thick, fleshy, tuberous roots of the Manihot utilissima, for- 
merly known as the Jatropha m,anihot, a native of tropical America, but 
now cultivated in Africa, India, and other hot countries. The plant in 
question constitutes what is popularly called the hitter cassava, but there 
is another variety from which cassava and tapioca are also obtained, 
called the sweet cassava. Both plants, like others of the order JEuphor- 
biaceae, to which they belong, have a milky juice. This, in the case of 
the bitter variety, contains, amongst other deleterious principles, hydro- 
cyanic acid, and gives to the root highly acrid and poisonous properties. 
In the case of the sweet variety, the juice is devoid of poisonous proper- 
ties, and the root by boiling or roasting becomes soft, and is used as an 
edible article. In the bitter variety it is only the juice that is poisonous, 
and when this has been expressed or otherwise removed, the residue is of 
a harmless nature. 

To procure the farinaceous preparations, the root, after being washed 
and scraped, is reduced to a pulp by being rasped or grated. The pulp 
is then subjected to pressure, to express the juice. From the compressed 
residue cassava-meal and bread are obtained; and from the juice, cassava- 
starch and tapioca. 

The residue, for instance, dried over a brisk fire, and afterward 
pounded, forms cassava-meal. If baked on a hot plate, it yields cassava- 
bread. Both these products form important aHf(i valuable articles of food 
to the inhabitants of tropical America. They contain starch, vegetable 
fibre, and nitrogenous matter. The expressed juice, in the next place, 
contains suspended starch, which is allowed to subside. This, after being 
washed and dried in the air without the aid of heat, constitutes cassava- 



214 A TREATISE OIT FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

starch, or what is known in commerce as tapioca-meal or J3razilian arrow- 
root. Tapioca is made by heating the cassava-starch, before being dried, 
on hot plates, and stirring it with an iron rod. By these means the mass 
agglomerates into small, irregular, transparent granules, forming the arti- 
cle imported into England under the name in question from Bahia and 
Rio Janeiro. 

Tapioca forms an agreeable, light, and easily digestible farinaceous 
article of food. It is useful both for the sick and healthy, and is em- 
ployed under the form of pudding and for introduction into soup and 
broth. Consisting, as it does, of starchy matter only, it possesses a less 
nutritive value than cassava-meal and bread. In consequence of the 
heat to which it has been subjected, many of the starch-granules are 
in a ruptured state, which leads to its being partially soluble in cold 
water. 

Aeeow-koot. — Genuine arrow-root, or, as it is called. West Indian 
arrow-root, in contradistinction to spurious representatives of the article, 
constitutes a pure form of starch from the tuberous root of the Maranta 
arundinacea, It owes its name to the belief of the Indians of South 
America, that the root of the plant was an antidote to the poison of their 
enemies' arrows. The plant grows in tropical climates, and was originally 
cultivated in the West Indies, but has been transferred to the East In- 
dies, Ceylon, and Africa. 

The following is the process by which the product is obtained. The 
roots are dug up when they are about ten or twelve months old, washed, 
and reduced to a state of pulp. This is mixed with water, cleared of 
fibres by means of a coarse sieve, and the starch allowed to settle. Suc- 
cessive washings are employed for furtlier purification, and the arrow-root 
is then either dried on sheets in the sun, or in drying-houses, care being 
exercised to exclude dust and insects. 

Arrow-root is imported into England from the West Indian Islands, 
Calcutta, and Sierra Leone, and is usually distinguished by the name of 
the island or place producing it. That derived from Bermuda is held in 
the highest estimation. It forms a white, odorless, and tasteless sub- 
stance, and is met with either in the state of powder or of small pulveru- 
lent masses. When rubbed between the fingers it feels firm, and pro- 
duces a slight crackling noise. It consists of starch-granules, which are 
readily distinguished by their microscopic characters from those derived 
from other sources. 

Consisting, as arrow-root does, of pure starch, it has no alimentary 
value beyond that belonging to this principle. It is chiefly used as a 
bland article of food for invalids, but, of course, requires to be conjoined 
with other alimentary matter, as alone it possesses only a limited sustain- 
ing power. As an ordinary dietetic agent, it is employed under the form 
of pudding and blanc-mange, and, with other materials, is made into a 
biscuit. 

The spurious arrow-root consists of starch derived from other sources, 
and substituted on the score of greater cheapness. For example, Tahitan 
arrow-root, or Tacca starch, also sometimes called Otaheite salep, is ob- 
tained from the root of the Tacca oceanica, a native of the South Sea 
Islands (the Tacca pinnatifida of the tropical parts of Asia also yields a 
large quantity of beautifully white starch, which constitutes an impor- 
tant article of food to the natives); Portland arrow-root (so called from 
being manufactured in the island of that name) from that of the Arum 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 215 

maciilatum; Brazilian arrow-root, from that of the plant which yields 
tapioca; East Indian arrow-rOiDt, from that of the Curcuma angustifolia, 
a species of turmeric plant; and English arrow-root, from the potato. 

Tous-LES-MOis. — This name is o-iven to the starch obtained from the 
tuberous root of the Canna edulis, a native of the West Indies. It is 
extracted in the same way as arrow-root, viz., by reducing the tuber to a 
pulp, straining', washing, decanting the supernatant liquid, and drying 
the starchy deposit. It is imported from St. Kitts, and was only intro- 
duced into England as recently as about the year 1836. Its granules are 
characterized by exceeding in size those of all other starches. It is very 
soluble in boiling water, and appears to be readily susceptible of diges- 
tion. It is used for invalids in the same way as arrow-root, and in ali- 
mentary value resembles the other farinaceous preparations. 

Salep. — Salep constitutes the prepared tubercles of several orchideous 
plants. It is imported from India, Persia, and Turkey, and is met with 
under the form of small ovoid tubercles, which have been subjected to 
boiling for a few minutes in water, rubbing with a coarse linen cloth to 
remove the skin, and drying in an oven. When required for use, they are 
ground to a fine powder, and mixed with boiling water. Salep consists 
of, besides other ingredients, mucilaginous matter and starch. It, there- 
fore, possesses demulcent as well as nutritive properties. 

Revalenta Aeabica. — Hevaleoita and Ervalenta form preparations 
the chief portion of which consists of the flour of the lentil, or EJrviwi 
lens (hence ervalenta), a plant belonging, like peas and beans, to the 
leoruminous tribe. 

Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica is thus composed, according to the 
analysis of Dr. Hassall. Three samples, he says, were examined, and one 
consisted of a mixture of the red or Arabian lentil and harley -flour j 
another of the same ingredients mixed with sugar; and the third of the 
Arabian lentil and barley-flour, with saline matter, chiefly salt, and a 
flavoring principle tasting as though consisting of celery seed. Such, ac- 
cording to Dr. Hassall, was found to be the composition of samples of an 
article which is vaunted in the advertising columns of the daily press as 
a specific for almost all the aliments that the human frame is heir to, and 
sold at an enormous price, looked at in relation to the cost of its ingre- 
dients. 

A sample of Wharton^ s Ervalenta, examined by Dr. Hassall, con- 
sisted of the French or German lentil, mixed with a substance resembling 
maize or Indian corn. 

The object of the admixture of barley- and other flours with the lentil 
powder is not, remarks Dr. Hassall, that of gain, for the cost of the latter 
is less than that of the former, but to diminish the strong flavor which 
lentils possess, and which is so distasteful to many. 

Regarded dietetically, a preparation which owes its chief composition to 
lentil-flour is rich, like leguminous seeds in general, in nitrogenous mat- 
ter, but in that form of it which is of a more indigestible nature than the 
nitrogenous matter belonging to the Cerealia. 



216 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



BEVERAGES. 

A supply of water under some shape or other is one of the essential 
conditions of life. It is just as needful as solid matter. It not only 
enters largely into the constitution of the different parts of the organism, 
but is required for various purposes in the performance of the operations 
of life. Without it, for instance, there could be no circulation nor molec- 
ular mobility of any kind. It forms the liquid element of the secretions, 
and thereby the medium for dissolving and enabling the digested food to 
pass into the system and the effete products to pass out. A constant in- 
gress and egress are occurring, and the former requires to stand in proper 
adjustment to the latter. Under ordinary conditions of exercise and 
temperature, it may be estimated that about five pints of fluid pass off 
through the kidneys, skin, lungs and alimentary canal from an average- 
sized adult in the course of the twenty-four hours, and this has to be re- 
plenished by supply from without. But it is not necessary that this 
amount should be drunk. A large proportion of our solid food, in many 
cases as much as 70, 80, or 90 per cent., consists of water, and the quan- 
tity required in an ordinary way to be taken daily in the form of drink 
may be roughly assumed to amount to from two and a half or three to 
three and a half or four pints or more. The loss going on, however, 
represents such a fluctuating product dependent on exercise or work and 
the temperature to which the body is exposed, that great variation must 
ensue in the amount of fluid required. The effect of muscular exertion 
in leading to increased cutaneous transpiration is familiar to all. Ex- 
posure to heat also is well known to act in the same way, and where a 
particularly elevated temperature has to be endured, the loss of fluid by 
the skin is very great — indeed, it is by this loss and the evaporation 
which follows, that the cooling influence is exerted whereby the tempera- 
ture of the body is kept down within natural limits. In the case of men, 
as particularly the stokers of large steam-vessels, who remain for some 
time in a highly heated atmosphere, the loss of fluid occurring entails the 
consumption of an enormous quantity (some quarts in the course of a 
few hours) of liquid, and it is the practice with such persons to drink 
from a store of water into which a little oatmeal has been thrown. Now, 
according to the amount required, so is the supply provided for by the 
sensation of thirst — a sensation which creates an irresistible desire to 
drink when the want of fluid in the system exists. 

If a plain and wholesome liquid be drunk, the error is not likely to be 
committed of taking too much. After compensating for the loss by the 
skin and with the breath, the surplus passes off through the urinary chan- 
nel, and it is desirable that this surplus should amply suffice to carry off 
the effete products forming the solid matter of the urine in a thoroughly 
dissolved state. The notion has been started that it is advisable to re- 
strict the amount of liquid taken with the meals with the view of avoiding 
the dilution of the gastric juice. Whether as the result of the influ- 
ence of this notion upon the public mind or not, mischief, I believe, is fre- 
quently occasioned, especially amongst the higher ranks of society, by a 
too limited consumption of fluid. Instead of taking a draught of some 
innocent and simple beverage, it is at many tables the fashion to sip fluid 
— and this a more or less strongly alcoholic one — only from the wine- 
glass. It is a mistaken notion to think that when we drink with a meal 
we are diluting the gastric juice. The act of secretion is excited by the 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 217 

arrival of the meal in the stomach, and the gastric juice is not there at the 
time of ingestion. It happens, indeed, that the absorption of fluid 
takes place with great activity, and the liquid which is drunk during a 
meal becoming absorbed, may be looked upon as .proving advantageous 
by afterward contributing to yield the gastric juice which is required. 

Water constitutes the essential basis of all our drinks, taken purely 
as such. The liquids consumed are of various kinds, but water is the ele- 
ment physiologically and indispensably required. Many of the beverages 
in use, however, are far from simply fulfilling the office of supplying water 
for the purposes of life. The accessory ingredients they contain give 
them special properties, for the sake of which their employment is often 
mainly, if not solely, dictated. It may be said, however, that a large 
quantity of fluid is required to be consumed to compensate for the loss 
occurring under violent exercise * or exposure to a high temperature, 
and that nothing is equal to a simple aqueous liquid, and the softer and 
purer the water the better. As already mentioned, those who work in 
unusually hot situations are in the habit of consuming, and wisely so, 
plain water, the rawness of which is removed by the addition of a little 
oatmeal. 

Before treating of the beverages having special properties, as tea, 
coffee, etc., and the various liquids of the alcoholic class, all of which 
are products of artificial resources, something will be said regarding 
water, which forms the drink that has been placed at our disposal by 
nature. 

* In Appendix II. to Dr. Parkes' publication, On the Issue of a Spirit Ration Dur- 
ing the Ashanti Campaign of 1874, an account is given setting forth the good effect 
produced by the employment of oatmeal drink during the heavy work recently ac- 
complished in the conversion of the broad into narrow-gauge on the Great Western 
Railway. 

One portion of the undertaking consisted of narrowing the gauge on the South 
Wales section of the railway for a length of about 400 miles of single line. The num- 
ber of men employed was 1,500, and the work lasted from seventeen to eighteen hours 
a day for several successive daya According to the report of the superintending 
engineer, the men worked in gangs of about thirty each, and were housed in lodges 
built along the line about six miles apart. They were directed to bring with them the 
food they would want for about two weeks, and, as a rule, they provided cocoa, coffee, 
sugar, bacon, bread, and cheese. At early dawn, water was heated at the lodges and 
breakfast made. That over, the day's work was commenced. Two men went in advance 
provided with a large iron pot, and oatmeal in 28 lb, packages. Water being found, a 
fireplace of stones was constructed and the pot boiled. Oatmeal was then sprinkled 
into it and added until their gruel was made. As soon as the shout for drink was 
heard, buckets were filled and carried round, small tins being used to drink it from. 
The men soon got to like it exceedingly, and used it very largely to supplement their 
solid food. It was the only drink taken during the day. 

The engineer superintending the portion of the work which was carried out in the 
month of June, 1874, on the Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth branch of the line, re- 
ported that the men worked from daylight to dark. Each man was allowed one pound 
of oatmeal and one -half pound of sugar per diem, and a man was appointed to cook and 
serve it out to each gang of twenty-one men. The men very much appreciated this 
drink, and had nothing else, no beer or spirits being allowed on the work. The work 
from beginning to end of the conversion lasted nearly a fortnight. The oatmeal sup- 
plied the place of water, beer, tea, and coffee. For meals the men had bread and 
cheese, or meat, and in some cases they had beer at night after their work was over, 
but never in the work. It is further stated that there was a strong feeling on the 
part of the engineers that the good conduct of the men and the hard work done by 
them was due to the liberal supply of oatmeal which they had ; as it not only quenched 
their thirst, but sustained them, acd enabled them upon one occasion to keep on con- 
tinually working very hard from four o'clock on Friday morning till nine o'clock on 
Saturday evening, with very little intermission. 



218 A TREATISE 01^ FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Water. — Water is derivable from various sources, and is denominated 
accordingly. 

JRain-water constitutes the aqueous vapor which has existed in the 
atmosphere and, becoming condensed, has descended in a liquid form. 
It holds an analogous position to distilled water, and differs from it onlv 
in being impregnated with volatile products which have been abstracted 
from the air. It is found to be highly aerated, and to contain traces of 
ammonia, nitric acid, etc., and also a little organic matter. It is likely 
to be contaminated by the surfaces upon which it has fallen, and, unless 
special care has been taken in its collection, is not well adapted for po- 
table purposes, although from its freedom from the earthy salts it is par- 
ticulary eligible for domestic use. Its purity, indeed, as far as freedom 
from the earthy salts is concerned, renders it specially prone to acquire 
dangerous properties from lead contamination should it chance to be 
brought into contact with this metal. 

Spring-water is rain-water which has percolated through the earth, 
and made its escape through some opening at a lower point admitting of 
its flow. It is charged with gaseous and saline prmciples, dependent in 
nature upon the character of the soil it has permeated. Many spring- 
waters furnish one of the best kinds of water for drinking. Some are 
charged with special ingredients — the mineral waters are alluded to — 
which render them unfit for ordinary use, but may give them a high 
value in a therapeutic point of view. 

Well- or pu7np-water is of the same nature as spring-water. Deep 
well-water, unless there should be any defect in the construction of the 
well, allowing a leakage into it from above, mostly yields a safe and 
wholesome drink. The water of surface or superficial wells, however, 
cannot be spoken of in a similar way. Derived as it is from soakage from 
the surrounding surface, through a comparatively shallow stratum only, 
and this often consisting of a loose porous soil, it is liable to be contam- 
inated with organic impurities that may cause it to give rise to the 
most serious consequences. Superficial well-water should always be re- 
garded with suspicion. It may be clear, bright, sparkling, cool, and agree- 
able, and yet possess dangerous properties. 

Hiver-water consists partly of spring-water and partly of rain-water 
that has run off from the surrounding surface of land. A large portion 
of the water consumed is drawn from rivers, and whilst varying consid- 
erably in character, according to local circumstances, some river-waters 
possess qualities that render them highly suited for our use. The main 
drawback to their employment as a source of supply is their liability 
to pollution by the refuse of cities and towns being allowed to reach 
them. Rivers, however, possess a purifying power of their own. The 
effect of a running stream, and the influence of vegetation, are to oxidize 
and destroy impurities; and thus if the pollution be only of a limited ex- 
tent, the water may be maintained fit for use. 

Distilled water is now extensively used at sea. Most large vessels 
are furnished with the necessary appliance for subjecting sea-water to 
distillation to afford the water required, instead of, as formerly, siiip- 
ping it from shore. Thus, a plentiful supply of pure water, in a strict 
sense, is at command. From the absence of air it has a flat taste, and, 
therefore, drinks less agreeably than that obtained from other sources. 
There are means, however, of submitting it to aeration, and overcom- 
ing this objection. On account of its purity it readily takes up lead, 
and many instances have occurred of injurious effects having been pro- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 219 

(luced by contamination through the medium of the pipes or their joints 
belonging to the condensing apparatus. 

Speaking now of water generally, it is almost needless to say that 
to be suitable for drinking purposes it should be bright and clear, and 
devoid of taste and smell. As a natural product, impregnation with a 
certain amount of gaseous and solid matter may be looked for. The 
gaseous matter, when consisting, as it only properly should do, of air 
and carbonic acid, gives an agreeable briskness, and may be considered 
a desirable accompaniment. The solid matter, unless of a specially noxious 
character from the presence of organic impurities, or unless existing in 
considerable amount, cannot be regarded as detracting from the fitness 
of the water for consumption, although it must be said that the less the 
extent of impregnation with solid matter — in other words, the purer the 
water — the better it is suited for our use. 

Unwholesome water. — The chief sources of unwholesomeness of water 
are: 1st, An excess of saline matter; 2d, the presence of organic impuri- 
ties; and 3d, contamination with lead. 

First. — The presence of a moderate amount of saline matter does not 
render a water objectionable for drinking, although the less the amount 
the more wholesome it may be considered to be. A large amount of saline 
matter may prejudicially influence (increasing or diminishing according 
to its nature) the action of the secreting organs of the alimentary canal 
and so occasion constipation or diarrhoea; may aggravate the deranged 
condition existing in cases of dyspepsia; and possibly prove, in some in- 
stances, the source of calculous disorders, or, at least, if not the source, 
may favor the formation of urinary gravel or calculi when a tendency 
exists that way. 

Second. — There is conclusive evidence to show that the most serious 
consequences have arisen from the con-sumption of water polluted with 
organic matter. This, in fact, is the impurity that is most to be dreaded. 
Outbreaks of diarrhoea have been very distinctly traced to the use of con- 
taminated water of this kind. It is acknowledged to be one of the most 
common causes of dysentery, and has been alleged, when derived from a 
marshy district, to be capable of inducing malarious fever and its con- 
comitant enlargement of the spleen. 

From the facts that have been recently made known, there can be no 
doubt that typhoid or enteric fever has been frequently communicated 
through the medium of water. Some well-established instances have 
lately been brought to light where milk adulterated with polluted water 
has been the cause of serious outbreaks of fever. Whether water simply 
charged with general organic impurity will suffice to produce the disease 
has not been settled, but certain it is that if it be contaminated with the 
intestinal excreta of a fever patient, either by the discharge of sewage 
into a river, percolation from a drain or cesspool into a superficial well, 
or in any other way, it will do so. Probably the presence of sewage 
impurity in a particular state, apart from the specific poison, will occa- 
sion the disease, and it appears that it may be induced by impregnation 
with sewer-gases allowed, through a defective service arrangement, to 
become absorbed during^ storag-e in a cistern. Cholera is another disease 
which may be considered as having been traced to contaminated water, 
and probably this forms the chief mode of its spread through a commun- 
ity. As with typhoid fever, the discharges from a cholera patient, in 
any way reaching water that is subsequently consumed, may suffice to 
be the cause of a widely spread outbreak of the disease. 



220 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Third. — Water may possess unwholesome properties from contamina- 
tion with lead, acquired by transit through leaden-pipes or storage in 
leaden-cisterns. A portion of the metal becoming dissolved, the prolonged 
use of the water gives rise to the ordinary phenomena of lead-poisoning. 
It is only certain kinds of water that are liable to become contaminated in. 
this way. Water charged with a moderate quantity of the earthy salts 
may be preserved in contact with lead with impunity. Protection is 
afforded by the formation of an insoluble compound upon the surface of 
the metal. With a purer water, on the other hand, a solvent action is 
allowed to come into play. Distilled water very readily becomes im- 
pregnated with lead, and if a cistern be provided with a leaden-cover, the 
water which has evaporated and condensed in drops upon the surface, in 
failing back may lead to a contamination which, from the character of 
the water, would not otherwise occur. 

Purification of Water. — It follows from what has been stated, that 
water has much to answer for in the causation of disease, and that care 
should be taken to secure a pure supply for drinking purposes. It is 
wise to be cautious in drinking water that has been derived from a 
superficial source, unless it has been subjected to a preparatory purifica- 
tion. In the case of spring- water issuing from a depth, and of deep well- 
water, there is but little chance of any serious harm arising. The extent 
of soil through which it has percolated is sufficient to ensure an absence, 
certainly, of noxious organic impurity. The danger especially lies with 
river-water and the water of shallow wells, and these should always be 
regarded with suspicion. 

A considerable number of processes have been proposed for the puri- 
fication of water. Only those in common use in this country need be 
referred to. 

Water from certain sources is treated on a large scale by what is 
known as Clark^s process^ which consists of the addition of a definite 
amount of lime-water. The object of the process is to diminish the hard- 
ness by reducing the amount of earthy matter, and it is usefully applied 
to water derived from chalk districts. By combining with the carbonic 
acid, which is holding in solution carbonate of lime, the lime leads to a 
precipitation of newly formed carbonate, and at the same time of almost 
the whole of the carbonate previously present. The hardness produced 
by sulphates and chlorides still remains, but suspended, and perhaps some 
dissolved, organic matter is thrown down. 

Boiling, by driving off the carbonic acid, has the effect of diminish- 
ing the hardness due to the earthy carbonates. It also acts upon or- 
ganic matter. If it does not remove organic matter it may be spoken of 
as having the power of destroying the activity of that which possesses 
specifically poisonous properties. Where fear is entertained respecting 
the transmission of cholera or typhoid fever, the water should be sub- 
jected to thorough boiling, and it may then be considered safe for use. 
Toast and water, which is made by pouring boiling water on toasted and 
partially charred bread or biscuit and allowing it to cool, forms, on this 
account, a safer drink for water-drinkers than plain and fresh water, un- 
less dependence can be placed upon the purity of the source. 

Filtration is very extensively practised, and contributes in a most 
important manner toward the purification of water. Before being dis- 
tributed to the metropolis the supply of the London Water Companies is 
submitted to filtration through sand and gravel. Suspended matters, both 
mineral and organic, are thereby removed, and dissolved mineral matter 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 221 

may be to some extent diminished, but dissolved organic matter fails to 
undergo any material alteration, and such filtration must not be viewed 
as rendering water safe for use when contaminated with noxious excreta. 
Animal charcoal, however, possesses a purifying power which is not en- 
joyed by other agents, and percolation through a good filter composed of 
this material effects a removal not only of suspended matters, but of a 
large proportion of the dissolved organic matter that may be contained 
in water. It is alleged that animal charcoal, in arresting, exerts at the 
same time a chemical alteration of the organic matter. The best domestic 
filters owe their action to this agent, and it is probable that they have 
the power of completely depriving water of any noxious property of an 
organic source that it may have possessed. There is always the pos- 
sibility, however, that through defective action some active matter may 
pass through, and where room for suspicion exists that water may be 
dangerously contaminated, it is prudent to subject it to boiling instead of 
relying solely on filtration. The purifjang power of animal charcoal is 
not unlimited. When water is charged with much organic matter it soon 
ceases to be effective. With the ordinary drinking-waters, however, 
where the organic impurity is small in amount, a filter will continue to 
act satisfactorily for many months, or even longer, provided, as is always 
necessary, the passage of the water is not too quick. After ceasing to 
act properly, the animal charcoal may be cleansed and again fitted for use, 
and to secure a constant state of eflficiency a filter should from time to time 
be subjected to this process. 



NON-ALCOHOLIC EXHILAEATING AND EESTOKATIVE 

BEVERAGES. 

The group of dietetic articles of which tea, coffee, and cocoa form the 
chief representatives, are only of comparatively modern introduction into 
Europe, although now so extensively consumed amongst us. They must 
be regarded as exerting a great influence on the social condition of man- 
kind, possessing the innocent properties they do, and consumed as largely 
as they are in the place of articles belonging to the alcoholic class, from 
which, when used in excess, such baneful physical and moral results take 
their source. 

It is certainly a remarkable circumstance that the articles of this group 
should have independently come into use in different parts of the globe 
purely upon their own merits; that they should also be derived from 
plants widely separated in their botanical affinities, and from different 
structures of the plant, and yet that they should be found to possess the 
same physiological properties and dietetic virtue, and, moreover, should 
be discovered, long subsequently to their introduction, to contain the 
same active chemical principle. In 1820, caffeine was discovered in coffee 
by Runge, and in 1827 theine in tea by Oudry; and in 1838 these two 
principles were found by Jobst and Mulder to be identical. In 1840, the 
same substance was recognized by Martins in Guarana — an article used 
in some parts of South America in the same way as we use tea and coffee; 
and in 1843 it was found by Stenhouse also to exist in Paraguay tea — a 
kind of tea obtained from the leaves of quite a different plant from that 
which yields the Chinese tea. Theobromine, the peculiar principle be- 
longing to cocoa, is certainly not strictly identical with, but, on the other 
hand, is very closely allied to caffeine and theine. Cocame, the active 



222 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

principle of the leaves of the Erythroxylon coca which are used in South 
America in the same way as tea, coffee, etc., and possess the same die- 
tetic properties, has been further found to bear a close chemical relation 
to the other principles, and to agree with them in physiological action. 
Now that caffeine and theine, and what were originally called guaranine 
and paraguaine, have been shown to be identical, it would prove a source 
of convenience if some suitable generic name were invented and employed 
by chemists to represent them. The action of these various principles 
has been made the subject of inquiry by the Committee of the British 
Medical Association appointed to investigate the antagonism of medi- 
cines; and the results showing the resemblance they bear to each other, 
and the antagonistic position they hold in relation to morphia, are to be 
found in the second volume of the British Medical Journal for 1874. 

Tea. — Tea constitutes the dried leaves of a plant belonging to the 
genus Thea of Linnaeus, which, according to the more recent authority 
of Bentliam and Hooker, forms a section only of the genus Camellia, a 
tribe of plants with which all are familiar in England. The tea-plant is 
indigenous in China, Cochin China, Japan, and the northern parts of 
the eastern peninsula of India, and has been introduced into British 
India on the southern declivities of the Himalayas, Java, the Kong 
Mountains in Western Africa, Brazil, Madeira, and other warm and 
temperate countries. It is capable of flourishing in all latitudes between 
0° and 40°. 

The two chief varieties of the plant are TJiea hohea and Thea viriclis, 
but besides these Thea sasangua is grown and used for some of the 
choicest sorts of tea. 

It was formerly supposed that Thea hohea yielded black tea only, 
and Thea viridis green; but Mr. Fortune ascertained, and it has since 
been fully corroborated by others, that black and green are both obtained 
from each variety of the plant, it being upon the mode of preparation 
adopted that the difference in the nature of the article depends. Thea 
viridis abounds in the northern districts of China, where it is cultivated 
on the fertile slopes of the hills. Thea hohea is cultivated in the south- 
ern parts of China, especially about Canton. 

The first gathering of tea is conducted in April, and consists of young 
leaf-buds, the removal of which to some extent injures the plant. The 
tea thus obtained, called yutien, is insignificant in amount, and not an 
article of commerce, but only intended for choice gifts to friends. It is 
used on occasions of ceremony, and although very strong in taste, scarcely 
colors the water in which it is infused. The showers of spring bring on 
fresh leaves, and the second gathering, which is the most important of 
the season, takes place in May. A third and last gathering supplies only 
inferior teas. 

Green tea is prepared from the young leaves, which within an hour or 
two after being gathered are roasted in pans over a brisk wood fire. After 
four or five minutes' roasting they are rolled by hand, and again thrown 
into the drying pans, where they are kept in rapid motion for about an 
hour and a half. The process is simple, and speedily accomplished. 
Prussian blue, turmeric-root, gypsum, and sometimes indigo and copper, 
are used to give an attractive bloom, but this artifice is only resorted to 
for the foreign market. The Chinese, it is said, never dye the teas for 
their own consumption. 

For hlack tea, the leaves are allowed to lie in heaps for ten or twelve 



ALIMEiS'TARY SUBSTAITCES. 223 

hours after they have been gathered, during which time they undergo a 
sort of fermentation. They are then tossed about till they become soft 
and flaccid, and, after being rolled, are alternately heated and rolled three 
or four times. The leaves are afterward dried slowly over charcoal fires. 

Various sorts of both black and green tea are manufactured. Of 
green, Singlo or Twankay is the lowest in quality. The chief of the 
others, in upward order of excellence, are Hyson-skin, Hyson, Imperial, 
Gunpowder, and the choicest Young Hyson. The chief varieties of black 
tea, arranged in a similar order, are Bohea, Oolong, Congou, Campoi, 
Souchong, Souchy or Caper, and Pekoe. 

Certain teas possess a characteristic aroma, dependent on the district 
in which they are grown; but the Chinese also adopt the plan of scenting 
some kinds of tea with various flowers, such as roses, jasmine, and orange- 
blossoms. The dry tea and the freshly gathered flowers are mixed and 
allowed to remain together for twenty-four hours. The flowers are then 
sifted out. 

Lie tea is the name applied to an article produced from the dust and 
sweepings of tea-warehouses, cemented with rice-water, and rolled into 
grains. It is made either of a black color, to imitate Caper; or green, to 
resemble Gunpowder. It is manufactured for the purpose of adulterating 
the better kinds of tea. 

Brick tea is made from the refuse, siftings, sweepings, and the broken 
leaves and twigs of tea moulded into forms. The Tartars use this tea. 
They reduce it to powder, and boil it with the alkaline water of the step- 
pes, to which salt and fat have been added; and this decoction, mixed 
with milk, butter, and a little roasted meal, they consume as an article of 
subsistence. It is also used in the same manner as other tea. 

Tea appears to have been used from time immemorial in China, and is 
known to have been common at the beginning of the sixth century. It is 
said to have been introduced into Japan about the beginning of the ninth 
century. The Dutch East India Company introduced it into Europe 
early in the seventeenth century. The first reference to tea made by an 
Eno'lishman was in the vear 1615, and is found in the records of the 
English East India Company. In 1657 a rather large consignment fell 
into the hands of Mr. Thomas Garraway, the person who established 
Garraway's Coffee House. The consumption of tea in the United King- 
dom in 1853 amounted, according to Johnston, to 58,000,000 pounds 
(25,000 tons), or about one forty-fifth part of the estimated produce of 
China. 

In 1866 the amount entered for home consumption had risen to 98,- 
000,000 pounds. In 1871, according to the published Custom House Re- 
turns, the quantity consumed was 3 lbs. 15 oz. for each member of the com- 
munity. 

The most important constituents of tea are: 

First. — An astringent matter of the nature of tannic acid, which con- 
stitutes the source of the bitter styptic taste it possesses. In the analyses 
furnished below, the amounts of this astringent matter stand in round 
figures at 13 and 18 per cent. 

Second. — A volatile oil, to which it owes its peculiar aroma, and which 
only amounts to about -g- or f per cent. 

Third. — Acrvstallizable bodv, of an alkaline nature, and rich in nitro- 
gen, called theine. This, according to the subjoined analyses, only amounts 
to about I" per cent., but Stenhouse has found from 1 to 1.27 per cent., and 
Peligot's results give more than double this, viz., from 2.31 to 3 per cent. 



224 



A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Black tea. 


Green tea 


0.60 


0.79 


1.84 


2.22 


0.00 


0.28 


3.64 


2.22 


7.28 


8.56 


12.88 


17.80 


0.46 


0.43 


21.36 


22.80 


19.19 


23.60 


2.80 


3.00 


28.32 


17.08 


5.24 


5.56 



There is, therefore, considerable diversity in the results that have been 
obtained by different chemists upon this point. * 

Composition of Tea (Mulder). 

Essential oil, 

Chlorophyll, 

Wax, . 

Resin, . 

Gum, . 

Tannin, 

Theine, 

Extractive matter. 

Coloring substance, 

Albumen, 

Fibre, . 

Ash (mineral substances). 

Tea is consumed under the form of infusion, made by pouring boiling 
water upon it and allowing it to stand for a short time. If boiled, a loss 
of its characteristic flavor would occur through the dissipation of its aro- 
matic principle, which is very volatile. 

The water used should be neither particularly hard nor soft, as the for- 
mer impedes the extraction of the soluble principles, and the latter favors 
the absorption of too much of the general extractive matter, at the sacri- 
fice of delicacy of flavor. River-water is the best, and this is employed 
by the Chinese. The water should not be allowed to remain long on the 
leaves, as by standing, or stewing, the infusion loses its aroma and takes 
up an excess of extractive matter which gives a rough and bitter taste. 
Thus, the liquid quickly poured off contains more aroma and less color- 
ing and astringent matters, and thereby possesses a choicer flavor than 
that which has been allowed to stand. In China, tea is sometimes infused 
in a teapot and sometimes in the cup, from which it is drunk off the 
leaves. In Japan, the tea-leaves are ground to powder and, after infusion 
in a teacup, the mixture is beaten up till it becomes frothy, and then the 
whole is drunk. 

Dr. Letheby says that it is experimentally proved that an infusion of 
tea is strong enough when it contains 0.6 per cent, of extracted matter, 
and that a moderate-sized cup, holding five ounces, would thus contain 
about thirteen grains of the extract of tea. 

Tea is usually measured by the spoon for use, but the weight of a 
spoonful varies much with the different sorts of tea, and as green tea is 
rolled much closer and weighs heavier than black, a spoonful of the for- 
mer, apart from any difference in composition, will make a stronger in- 
fusion than that of the latter. Dr. E. Smith has instituted a comparison 
in reference to this point, and the following is the table given by him 
showing the weight in grains of an evenly taken moderate-sized caddy- 
spoonful of tea, and the number of such spoonfuls required to make a 
pound. 

* In the Food Journal, vol. i. ,p. 162, it is stated that Stenhouse's observations 
show a range in the amount of theine in various teas from 0.70 to 2.18 per cent.; ^nd 
that Peligot's results vary, but that in his last and most complete experiment he ob- 
tained 6.21 per cent. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 225 

Kind of tea. Weight of a spoon- Number of spoon- 

Black — ful m grams. f uls m a pound. 



Oolong-, 



ity, 



39 179 

52 138 



62 113 

70 100 

87 80 



Congou, inferior qual 
Flowery Pekoe, 
Souchong", 
Congou, fine, 

Green — 

Hvson skin, j Not now imported ) . ^58 120 

TvVankay, ( into England [ . .70 100 

Hyson, QQ 106 

Fine Imperial, ...... 90 77 

Scented Caper, an artificial preparation, . 103 68 

Fine Gunpowder, ..... 123 57 

With regard to these results, something may be due to the condition 
as to form of the tea, some teas holding together in the spoon more than 
others, otherwise a pound packet of the first on the list ought to be three 
times the size of that of the last. 

The Chinese drink their tea in a pure state. The Russians frequently 
squeeze the juice of lemon into it, and this is said to form an agreeable 
addition. The Germans often flavor it with rum, cinnamon, or vanilla. 
In England it may be said to be customary to add milk or cream, and 
sugar; the one having the effect of diminishing the astringent taste, and 
the other being employed to please the palate. 

Tea is not to be looked upon as constituting an article of nutrition. 
The quantity of material furnished to the system in the manner it is used 
is too small to be of any significance joer se in contributing to the chemi- 
cal changes which form the source of vital action. If not occupying the 
position of an article of nutrition, however, its extensive and widely 
spread employment may be taken as indicating that some kind of benefit 
is derivable from its use, and it is probably through the nervous system 
that this is mainly, if not entirely, produced. 

Much discordancy exists in the statements that have been made re- 
garding the effects of tea upon the system, and an unfortunate want of 
uniformity prevails amongst medical practitioners in the recommendations 
given to the public upon the subject of its employment. The diametri- 
cally opposite advice that is frequently found to be given to patients, one 
member of the profession recommending, and another immediately after- 
ward prohibiting, the use of tea, exhibits an arbitrary course of procedure 
which testifies to the want of some definite guiding principle of action. 
An attempt will be made to furnish a concise representation of what is 
known, and from this may be drawn a basis for greater uniformity of 
procedure. 

Tea forms a light beverage, which is neither heating to the system nor 
oppressive to the stomach, in which respects it differs from coffee. Taken 
in moderate quantity, it may be spoken of as exerting an exhilarating and 
restorative action without stimulating or inebriating like alcohol. By 
such action it exerts a reviving influence when the body is fatigued, but 
perhaps some of the effect is also attributable to the warmth belonging to 
the liquid consumed. It. disposes to mental cheerfulness and activity, 
clears the brain, arouses the energies, and diminishes the tendency to sleep 
— to such an extent, it may be, in some sensitive persons, as to occasion 
a painful state of vigilance or watchfulness, and sleeplessness, 
15 



226 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

The phenomena produced when tea is consumed in a strong state, and 
to a hurtful extent, show that it is capable of acting in a powerful manner 
upon the nervous system. Nervous agitation, muscular tremors, a sense 
of prostration, and palpitation, constitute effects that have been witnessed. 
It appears to act in a sedative manner on the vascular system. It also 
possesses direct irritant properties, which lead to the production of ab- 
dominal pains and nausea. It promotes the action of the skin, and, by 
the astringent matter it contains, diminishes the action of the bowels. 
Green tea, as is well known, possesses far more active properties than 
black, although, as previously stated, the two are obtained from the same 
plant. The difference between them is dependent on the mode of treat- 
meat to which the leaf is subjected and the period of gathering it. 

Tea, like coffee, appeases the sensation arising from the want of food, 
and enables hunger to be better borne. Lehmann was of opinion that it 
lessened the waste of the body, but Dr. E. Smith asserts that it increases 
slightly the amount of carbonic acid exhaled, and he thereby speaks of it 
as promoting rather than checking chemico- vital action. More conclusive 
evidence, it may be considered, is required in reference to this matter to 
show that any decided action either way is exerted. 

To express in a few words the advantages derivable from the use of 
tea, it may be said that it forms an agreeable, refreshing, and wholesome 
beverage, and thereby constitutes a useful medium for the introduction 
of a portion of the fluid we require into the system. It secures that the 
water consumed is rendered safe for drinking by the boiling which is ne- 
cessitated as a preliminary operation in making tea. It cools the body 
when hot, probably by promoting the action of the skin; and warms it 
when cold, by virtue, it would seem, of the warm liquid consumed. In 
a negative way it may prove beneficial to health by taking the place of a 
less wholesome liquid. Through the milk and sugar usually consumed 
with it in England, it affords the means of supplying a certain amount — 
and not by any means an insignificant amount, viewed in its entirety — of 
alimentary matter to the system. Experience shows that it often affords 
comfort and relief to persons suffering from nervous headache. It also 
tends to allay the excitement from and counteract the state induced by 
the use of alcoholic stimulants; and, further, on account of its antisopo- 
rific properties, like coffee, it is useful as an antidote in poisoning by 
opium. 

Its use, particularly green tea, is objectionable, in a strong state, in 
the case of persons who are rendered watchful by it, and in all irritable 
conditions of the stomach. The astringent matter it contains will cause 
it to impede digestion, if taken strong and in any large quantity during 
or shortly after a meal. 

Representatiyes of Tea. — Before concluding this section on tea, 
reference may be made to the leaves of certain plants, which are prepared 
and extensively used in some localities in the same manner as those of 
the Chinese tea-plant. 

Mate, or Paraguay Tea. — This is derived from the dried leaves of the 
Hex Paraguay ensis, or Brazilian holly, a plant belonging to the same 
tribe as the holly of our owi] country. It is a native of South America, 
where it grows in a wild state; and in some parts of that portion of the 
world the leaves are extensively employed dietetically as tea and coffee 
are in Asia and Europe. The leaves, after being dried, are reduced to a 
coarse kind of powder before being used for yielding the infusion. It is 



ALDIENTAKY SUBSTANCES. 227 

not correct to look upon Paraguay tea as a spurious substitute for Chinese 
tea. It is consumed ujDon its own merits, and it forms a curious and in- 
teresting fact that it contains an active principle which was at first called 
paragiiaine, but which has since been found to be identical with theine 
and caffeine. 

The chief constituents of Paraguay tea are: 

First. — An astringent principle analogous to tannic acid, which is 
present in sufficient proportion to render the fresh leaves an article of use 
to dyers in the Brazils. 

Second. — A volatile oil. 

Third. — Theine, amounting in quantity to about 1.20 per cent. 

Paraguay tea is spoken of as being more exciting than Chinese tea; 
and, when used in excessive quantity, is said to produce a kind of deli- 
rium tremens. 

Additional varieties of Paraguay tea are made from the leaves of the 
Ilex gongonha (called Brazilian tea). Ilex theoezans, Psoralea glandulosa 
(called Mexican tea), and Capraria hiflora. 

Coffee-leaves. — In the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, the leaves 
of the coffee-plant, which somewhat resemble in outside character those 
of the common laurel, are dried and used in the manner of tea. They 
yield an infusion which even more approximates to that of Chinese tea 
than does the infusion of mate, or Parao-uav tea. It contains the same 
kind of constituents, and the theine amounts to about 1.26 per cent. It 
forms the favorite tea of the dark-skinned population of Sumatra. In 
taste and odor it resembles a mixture of tea and coffee. 

Lahrador tea is made from the dried leaves of the Ledum palustre 
and Ledum latifoUum. It is very strong in astringent and narcotic prop- 
erties. 

Abyssinian tea, called chaat, consists of the dried leaves of the Catha 
edulis, a small tree allied to the Sageretia thecBzans. It is cultivated and 
used extensively in Northern Africa. 

In "Johnston's Chemistry of Common Life" a list of several other 
plants is given, the leaves of which are used for infusing and consuming 
in the same manner as Chinese tea. 

Coffee. — Coffee-beans constitute the seeds found within the fruit of 
the Coffea Arabica, a small tree belonging to the tribe Coffeaceoe, of the 
family JRubiacece, which is indigenous in Southern Abyssinia. 

The tree is said to have been transplated into Arabia at the beginning 
of the fifteenth century, and the cultivation has since been extended to 
Egypt, the "West Indies, Peru, Brazil, Java, Ceylon, and other warm 
countries. When the climate is dry, abundant irrigation is required while 
the tree is growing, but as the fruit begins to ripen the water is cut 
off. 

The fruit forms a succulent berry, similar in appearance and color to a 
small cherry. Each berry contains usually two seeds, forming the coffee- 
bean of commerce, surrounded by a parchment-like envelope and the fleshy 

pulp- 
To extract the seeds, the fresh, ripe berries are sometimes bruised be- 
tween rollers, and the thick, juicy pulp is then separated by passing 
through sieves, upon which the beans are retained. They are afterward 
washed with water, and dried. The parchment-like envelope is next de- 
tached by a heavy wooden wheel, and the chaff removed by winnowing. 
Sometimes the berries are dried in the sun, by which the pulp and mem- 



228 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

branous envelope become friable, and are removed by lightly crushing and 
winnowing. 

The coffee-bean is usually imported in the above-mentioned decorti- 
cated state. It then constitutes a horny body, rounded on one side and 
flat, with a longitudinal furrow, on the other, and of a yellowish, bluish, 
<'r greenish color. Sometimes, however, it is met with surrounded by its 
membranous envelope, and is then called in commerce " coffee in thehusky 

The coffee produced by different countries presents variations in qual- 
ity and the physical characters of the bean. The smallest bean is consid- 
ered the best. Mocha or Arabian coffee is the most highly esteemed. 
The bean is small and round, and of a dark yellow color, with a tinge of 
green. This variety develops a more agreeable aroma than the others. 
West Indian coffee is usually of a greenish gray tint, with the ends of 
the beans rounded. A slight difference exists in the production of the 
various islands. Jamaica coffee, for instance, does not exactly resemble 
that from Martinique^ and the coffee from St. Domingo is less esteemed 
than either, and is pointed at the two extremities. Java and East Indian 
coffee is large, and of a pale yellow color. Ceylon coffee is the least prized 
of all. 

Coffee is said to have been in use in Abyssinia from time immemorial, 
and in Persia from a.d. 875. It was used in Constantinople about the 
middle of the sixteenth century, in spite of the violent opposition of the 
priests; and in 1554 two coffee-houses were opened in that city. It was 
introduced into Europe in the seventeenth century, but the precise date 
is variousl}'' stated by different authorities. It was drunk in Venice soon 
after 1G15, and brought to England and France about forty years subse- 
quently. 

To show the progress in the consumption of coffee, it maybe mentioned 
that in 1699 one hundred tons of coffee were consumed in the United 
Kingdom, seventy of which were used in England (Tomlinson). In 1858 
the consumption in the United Kingdom is stated to have been sixteen 
thousand tons ("Chambers's Encyclopsedia"). About the same time the 
total European consumption was something like seventy-five thousand 
tons (Johnston), and the entire weight of coffee raised over the world was 
guessed to be about six hundred millions of pounds (Johnston). Nearly 
as much coffee is consumed in the United Kingdom as in France; and, 
propiortionately to its size, Belgium, Payen says, consumes five times as 
much as France. 

The coffee of commerce is formed of the raw bean, and subjection to 
the process of roasting is required to place it in a suitable condition for 
the consumer. This is performed in an iron cylinder, made to revolve over 
a fire. It leads to the development of the aroma and other qualities for 
which the article is esteemed. From the volatile nature of the aroma the 
roasted coffee greatly deteriorates by keeping; hence the process of roast- 
ing should not be performed long before the coffee is made use of. 

Under the process of roasting, the coffee-bean loses in weight and gains 
in bulk by expansion. It at the same time changes in color, assuming a 
reddish brown, chestnut-brown, or dark brown, according to the extent to 
which the roasting has been carried. The quality of the coffee a great 
deal depends upon the manner in which the roasting has been perform- 
ed. If the seeds are roasted too little, the desired aroma and empy- 
reumatic products are not sufficiently developed, whilst if roasted too 
much they are partially dissipated, and an unpleasant flavor substituted. 
If a full-flavored coffee be desired, the darker shade of color should be 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



229 



chosen. In England, the operation of roasting is conducted in large es- 
tablishments devoted to the purpose, but on the Continent it is not uncom- 
mon for it to be performed from time to time on a small scale by a member 
of the household. Before being used, coffee requires to be ground, and the 
remark that has been made about the roasted bean losing its aroma by 
keeping, applies with still greater force to the article when ground. To 
grind it as it is required forms the best plan, but when this is not adopted 
it should be preserved in a well closed bottle or tin. 

The chief constituents of coffee are of the same nature as those men- 
tioned for tea. They are as follows: 

First. — A volatile oil, which gives to coffee the aroma it possesses, and is 
developed by the process of roasting. The amount of it is less than that 
existino; in tea. 

Second. — Astringent matter constituting a modification of tannin, and 
called caffeo-tannic and caffeic acids. It is present in much smaller quan- 
tity than tannic acid in tea, and amounts to about 5 per cent, in raw coffee. 

Third. — Caffeine. This principle, as already mentioned, is identical 
■with theine. The amount of it, as estimated by different observers, in 
coffee varies considerably. Stenhouse gives it as about 0.75 to 1 per 
cent., others at 3 to 4: per cent. 

Composition of Unroasted Coffee, (" Chambers' Encyclopaedia "). 



Caffeine, .... 
Legumine (vegetable caseine), 
Gum and sugar, . 
Caffeo-tannic and caffeic acids, 
Fat and volatile oil, . 
Woody fibre. 

Ash, 

Water, . . . 



0.8 
13.0 
15.5 

5.0 
13.0 
34.0 

6.7 
12.0 



100.0 



An elaborate analysis is given by Payen,* from his own results, with 
■which the above is in close accord. It is as follows: 



Composition of Coffee (Payen). 

Cellulose, 34. 

Water, . .12. 

Fatty matter, from 10 to 13. 

Glucose, dextrine, undetermined vegetable acid, . . . 15.5 

Legumine, caseine, etc., ........ 10. 

Chloroginate [caffeo-tannate] of potash and of caffeine, from 3.5 to 5. 
Nitrogenized structure, ........ 3. 

Caffeine, 0.8 

Essential oil, ... 0.001 

Aromatic essence, 0.002 

Mineral substances, 6.697 



100.000 



* Substances Alimentaires, p. 414. Paris, 1865. 



230 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Coffee is prepared for drinking both in the form of infusion and de- 
coction. In Arabia and the East a decoction of the unroasted article is 
usually drunk, and the custom prevails of consuming the grounds, which 
are looked upon as nutritious, with the liquid. In Europe, however, cof- 
fee is always roasted before it is used. The old practice in England was 
to place the coffee-pot over the fire for the coffee to boil. In this way a 
larger amount of material is extracted, but at the sacrifice, it must be said, 
of flavor, for the aroma of coffee is of a volatile nature, and becomes dis- 
sipated during the process of boiling. To preserve the aroma, an infusion 
only should be made, and the appliances that have been devised for mak- 
ing coffee in this way are exceedingly numerous. The most general plan 
adopted is to allow the boiling water to percolate through the coffee, dis- 
posed in such a manner as to prevent the grounds passing with the 
liquid. 

As boiling leads to a loss of aroma, so infusing only involves a waste 
of some of the extractive matter, which escapes being taken up. If econo- 
my is no object this need not be considered, a large amount of coffee be- 
ing taken for use. If it be desired, however, to turn the coffee to the 
utmost account, both a decoction and an infusion should be made; and 
this may be accomplished by boiling the grounds from which an infusion 
has been made with water, and pouring the boiling decoction over a fresh 
portion of recently ground coffee. The boiling water has fully extracted 
what the grounds would yield, and on being poured over the fresh coffee, 
carries with it the aroma and the principles contained in an ordinary infu- 
sion. The grounds last left, in their turn, will serve to boil with more 
water, and yield a decoction for pouring over another fresh portion of coffee. 
In this way all the goodness is obtained without any sacrifice of aroma. 

As is the case with tea, soft water extracts more from coffee than hard, 
and the addition of an alkali, as carbonate of soda, augments the extract- 
ing capacity. 

The extent to which the coffee has been roasted influences the amount 
of matter susceptible of extraction. Payen says that one litre (about 1|- 
pint in English measure) of boiling water allowed to filter through 100 
grammes (about 3^ oz.) of recently ground coffee — and this he gives as 
about the proper proportion for making coffee — when the roasting has 
been carried only to the production of a reddish brown color, extracts 25 
per cent, of its substance, and only 19 per cent, when the roasting has 
been carried to a chestnut-brown. 

According to Dr. Letheby, an infusion of coffee is strong enough when 
it holds in solution 3 per cent, of extracted matter. Charged to this ex- 
tent, a moderate-sized cup (5 ounces), he adds, should contain 66 grains 
of extract of coffee, and such proportion will be obtained when 2 ounces 
of freshly roasted coffee are infused in a pint of boiling water. 

Coffee forms a favorite and useful beverage. The properties it pos- 
sesses fully justify the estimation in which it is held. Like tea, it pro- 
duces an invigorating and restorative effect on the system, without being 
followed by any depression. It, however, exerts a more heating and 
stimulatino^ action than tea, and increases in a decided manner the force 
and frequency of the pulse. It also differs in being heavier and more op- 
pressive to the stomach. It arouses the mental faculties and the energies 
generally, and so disposes to wakefulness, but in this latter respect its 
influence is not so powerful as that of tea. Taken in immoderate quantity 
it may induce feverishness, and various manifestations of disordered ner- 
vous action, as treuior, palpitation, anxiety, and deranged vision. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 231 

One of the most valuable properties of coffee is its power of relieving 
the sensation of hunger and fatigue. It exerts a marked sustaining in- 
fluence under fatigue and privation, and thus enables arduous exertion to 
be better borne under the existence of abstinence or a deficiency of food. 
To the soldier on active service it forms a most useful article on this 
account. The experiments of Lehmann led him to conclude that coffee 
diminishes the waste of the tissues, and causes food to go further, but 
whether this is true is doubtful. Gasparin, however, from his observa- 
tions, also says that coffee has the property of rendering the elements of 
the body more stable; and thus, if not affording much nourishment itself, 
that it economizes other nourishment by diminishing the waste going on. 
On the other hand, Mr. Squarey * could not find that the elimination of 
urea and chlorides was diminished, as might be looked for if the above 
view were correct, under the use of large doses of coffee, and some later 
researches of E. Roux f furnish evidence of a corroborative nature. 

*' In some constitutions," says Pereira, " coffee acts on the bowels as a 
mild laxative." "I have known," he adds, "several persons in whom it 
has this effect; yet it is usually described as producing constipation." 

Whilst heating and stimulating to the system in hot weather, coffee 
is most serviceable in giving warmth to the body under exposure to cold. 
Something, it must be admitted, is due to the warm liquid consumed, but 
an action beyond this is exerted. 

Consumed, as coffee usually is, with milk and sugar, it further forms 
a medium for supplying direct nourishment, and this of no inconsiderable 
amount, to the system. Payen remarks that a litre (about a pint and three 
quarters) of cafe, au lait, such as is usually taken with the morning meal, 
contains between 5 and 6 ounces of solid matter, of which about If ounce 
consists of nitrogenous matter. 

In addition to its dietetic value, considerable benefit is often derived 
from the employment of coffee as a therapeutic agent. By virtue of its 
antisoporific properties it is advantageously administered as an antidote 
in cases of opium-poisoning. It is also of service in subduing the effects 
produced by the immoderate use of alcoholic stimulants. It frequently 
affords relief in some forms of nervous headache, and is well known to 
(institute one of the most valuable agents we possess for controlling the 
paroxysms of spasmodic asthma. 

Fictitious coffee. — A number of articles, consisting of various beans, 
seeds, berries, and roots, have been used as substitutes for coffee, but in 
none of them does there exist the characteristic and active principle — 
caffeine, and none therefore are endowed with the virtue of coffee. The 
roasted acorn is much used on the Continent under the name of acorn 
coffee^ and has been imported into England. The best substitute for cof- 
fee yet discovered is said to be that which is known by the name of 
Swedish coffee, and is prepared from the Astralagus £ceticus. 

Chiccory. — Chiccory is prepared from the root of the wild succory or 
endive ( Cichorium Intybtis), the type of a great division of the order 
CompositcB, known by their milky juice, and to which also belong the 
dandelion and lettuce. It was formerly used medicinally from possessing 
properties resembling those of the dandelion; and for about 100 years has 
been employed as a substitute for and admixture with coffee. The plant 

* Medico- Chirurgical Transactions, vol. xlix. , pp. 1-19, 1866. 
f Comptes Rendus, vol. Ixxvii., p. 365-7, 1873. 



232 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

is cultivated in England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and France, and 
the foreign is considered much superior to the English growth. The roots 
after being washed are cut into small pieces and dried on a kiln. They 
are then roasted in iron cylinders, which are kept revolving, just as is done 
in the case of coffee. 

Roasted chiccory contains, like coffee, an empyreumatic volatile oil, 
■which forms the source of its aroma, and a bitter principle, but no caffeine. 
According to the analysis of John, 25 per cent, consists of watery, bitter 
extractive matter. 

Chiccory yields a drink closely allied in flavor and color to coffee. It 
is ver}'- largely consumed on the Continent, not merely as an adulterant 
of coffee, but as an independent beverage. In Belgium, as much as 5 
pounds a head are used in the year, counting the whole population; and 
in some parts of Germany, women, it is said, are regular chiccory-topers. 

It gives increased color and flavor to coffee, and, used as an admixture 
to a moderate extent, is considered by most persons to furnish an im- 
provement upon coffee alone. The preference shown is quite independ- 
ent of any consideration of economy. It is employed upon its own merits, 
and, when there is no concealment, its addition to coffee cannot be looked 
upon in the light of an adulteration. 

The root of the dandelion is sometimes roasted and used in the same 
way as chiccory. 

GuAEAisrA. — Brazilian cocoa, or guarana, is obtained from the seeds 
of the JPaidlinia sorbilis, a tree belonging to the order Sapindacece, or 
soapworts, which, according to most botanists, includes the common 
horse-chestnut. The tree grows abundantly in the province of Amazonas, 
along the banks of the Tapajos, Rio Negro, etc., as well as in Guiana and 
Venezuela. It is used extensively in Brazil, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and 
other parts of South America as a nervous stimulant and restorative, 
and also as a refreshing beverage. According to late reports, 16,000 
pounds are annually exported from the city of Santarem. 

The fruit, which is about the size of a small walnut, contains five or 
six seeds. These seeds are roasted, and, after being pounded, are made 
into a thick paste with water and formed into round or oblong cakes, 
which are dried in an oven or by the heat of the sun, and called guarana- 
bread. The cakes are scraped or grated when required for use, and the 
powder produced possesses a light brown color, an odor faintly resembling 
roasted coffee, and a bitter, astringent taste. 

It contains, in addition to empyreumatic oil (developed by the pro- 
cess of roasting), and tannic acid, a substance called guarmiine by Theo- 
dore von Martins, but shown by Dr. Stenhouse to be identical with 
theine. This alkaloid is stated by Dr. Stenhouse to be present to the ex- 
tent of 5.07 per cent., or, according to the results of the same observer, 
to the extent of twice the amount contained in good black tea, and five 
times that contained in coffee: the actual figures given for tea being 2.13 
per cent., and for coffee 0.8 to 1.0 per cent. For Paraguay tea the amount 
mentioned is 1.25 per cent. 

The large amount of tannic acid that enters into the composition of 
guarana gives it marked astringent properties, whilst, owing to the guara- 
nine it contains, it exerts the same kind of effect on the nervous system 
as tea and coffee. 

Guarana is used in South America to some extent dietetically, but 
chiefly therapeutically, as a stomachic and febrifuge, and as an astringent 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 233 

in catarrhal diarrhoea and dysentery. It is either eaten with cassava or 
chocolate, or taken as a drink in sweetened water. In the United States 
it is employed as a nervous stimulant and restorative, and attention was 
directed to it some years ago in France by Dr. Gavrelle, who had held 
the post of physician to Don Pedro of Brazil. 

Alcohol, it is stated, forms the only agent which completely extracts 
its active principles. Ether and water only do so imperfectly. A watery 
infusion, therefore, will fail to possess the virtue belonging to guarana. 

Guarana appears for some time to have enjoyed a high repute in 
France as a remedy for migraine^ or sick headache, and attention has 
been recently directed to its employment for this purpose, in England, 
by my colleague. Dr. Wilks. Articles upon the subject may be seen in 
the British Medical Journal for 1872, and another article, by Mr. M. C. 
Cooke, is to be found in vol. i., third series, of the Pharmaceutical 
Journal, p. 221. As far as experience goes, it seems that in some cases 
of sick or nervous headache it is capable of affording the most marked 
relief, whilst in others it utterly fails to produce any good effect. Its 
virtue is, in all probability, due to the guaranine (theine or caffeine) it 
contains, which, as already remarked, is, according to the analysis of 
Stenhouse, present in much larger proportion than in either tea or coffee. 
Employed for the medicinal purpose above referred to, the quantity gen- 
erally used is about 15 grains of the powder administered in coffee, water, 
or some other suitable vehicle. 

Cocoa. — Cocoa constitutes a product derived from the seeds of the 
Theobroma cacao, a tree indigenous in South America, Mexico, and the 
West Indies, and cultivated also in the Mauritius, the Isle of Bourbon, 
and some parts of Asia and Africa. The term cocoa, as applied to this 
product, must not be looked upon as signifying that it has any relation 
to the well-known cocoanut. It is employed as a corruption of cacao, 
which through want of euphony has been excluded from popular use. 
The generic name Tlieohroma (food for gods — ^eos jSpoifxa) was given by 
Linnaeus to the tribe of plants, which includes several species, to mark 
the estimation in which he held the product under consideration. 

From the cacao tree small flowers grow on stalks, springing directly 
from the stem. The flower is succeeded by an elongated thick fruit 
somewhat resemblinof in form the vegetable marrow. The fruit consists 
of a number of seeds (from twenty to fifty) arranged in regular rows, 
with partitions between them, and surrounded by an acid and slightly 
saccharine pulp. When the fruit is ripe, it is gathered and collected in 
earthen vessels or into heaps on the ground, where it is allowed to re- 
main a few days, during which time it ferments, heats, and softens. It 
is then opened, and the seeds, which are about the size of or rather thicker 
than a plump almond, are separated, cleansed, and dried in the sun. The 
fruit is sometimes covered instead with earth until the pulp has become 
rotten and soft, and the cocoa yielded is said to be sweeter and better. 

The use of cocoa is of great antiquity in Mexico and Guatemala, and 
chocolate was introduced into Europe in 1520 by the Spaniards, who 
long kept its preparation a secret. Cocoa was sold in the London coffee- 
houses soon after their establishment, about the year 1652, and in 1660 
its use spread over Europe, and as far as Turkey and Persia. The pres- 
ent total annual consumption is said to amount to about 100,000,000 
pounds. A large quantity is used in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. 
In England the consumption is on a smaller scale. 



234 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Cocoa is imported in the state of dried and cleansed seeds, consisting 
of a crisp, dark-colored central portion or kernel, surrounded by a some- 
what brittle husk. The first step in preparing it for use is to subject it 
to the process of roasting, which is performed in an iron cylinder like a 
coffee-roaster, and has for its object the development of aroma. From 
the roasted seeds, chocolate and the various forms of cocoa supplied for 
use are prepared. 

Cocoa nihs constitute the kernels of the roasted seeds deprived of 
husk, and roughly crushed in a machine called a "kibbling mill." Nibs 
are used for furnishing a decoction. They are gently boiled in water for 
about a couple of hours, and the dark-brown decoction is then simply 
poured off the undissolved part of the nib. Used in this way, only a 
portion of the kernel is extracted and consumed, and the beverage pre- 
sents a closer analogy to tea and coffee than that derived from the other 
cocoa products, which, from being prepared in such a way as to lead to 
the whole substance of the kernel being drunk, furnish liquids possessing 
in addition to the common properties of the class, a high nutritive value. 

In the other preparations of cocoa, the kernel is ground to a paste and 
usually incorporated with some diluting material of a starchy or saccha- 
rine nature to diminish its oily consistence. Numerous kinds of cocoa 
are sold, some of them being named from the form given, the nature of 
the admixture, or after the manufacturer. Flaked cocoa constitutes the 
article simply ground to a paste in a suitable mill. Granulated cocoa 
is prepared by reduction to a coarse powder and covering the particles 
with a layer of sugar and starch. Soluble cocoa contains sugar as a 
diluting substance. Carageen 3foss, Iceland Moss, and lentils are used 
as special agents for incorporation, and the cocoas bear the name of the 
agent prefixed. To produce the low-priced forms of cocoa, more or less 
of the husk is ground up with the kernel, and sundry cheap diluting arti- 
cles are also used for admixture. 

The preparations of cocoa in which sugar is employed as the diluting 
article require no preliminary boiling or cooking for use. The addition 
of boiling milk or water suffices. Those, however, in which some kind 
of starchy substance has been used for admixture need boiling to prop- 
erly liquefy and bring them into a homogeneous state for drinking. 

Chocolate constitutes a superior form of prepared cocoa. It is made 
upon an extensive scale in France, where its manufacture has attained a 
high state of perfection. Forming as it does an article of luxury, much 
care is bestowed on its preparation. The seeds, after being sifted and 
picked, are gently roasted till the desired aroma is developed. They are 
then allowed to cool, and afterward lightly crushed and winnowed to 
separate the husk from the kernel. Different sorts of cocoa seeds are 
mixed — the more aromatic, for instance, with the more oily — for the pur- 
pose of improving the product. The cocoa is next ground by suitable 
machinery to a perfectly even paste. The grinding is effected by revolv- 
ing rollers over a heated iron plate, which maintains the fatty matter of 
the seed in a liquid state, and thus allows a thin paste to be formed. 
During the process of grinding, sugar is incorporated with the cocoa to 
the extent of from one-third to an equal part of its weight, and just be- 
fore completion an aromatic, as vanilla, cinnamon, or whatever the taste 
may direct, is added to give the flavor required. The final process con- 
sists in running the liquid paste into moulds; and, as cooling takes place, 
it becomes solid and hard. 

The husks rejected in the manufacture of chocolate and cocoa are fre- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



235 



quently sold to the poor, who boil them in water and obtain a wholesome 
beverage therefrom. 

Cocoa is characterized and distinguished from tea and coffee by the 
laro-e amount of fatty and albuminous matters it contains, these princi- 
ples averaging as much as about 50 and 20 per cent, respectively in the 
unmanufactured article. 

The chief constituents of cocoa are: 

First. — A volatile oil, to which it owes its aroma, and which is pro- 
duced during the process of roasting. The amount of this oil is very 
small. 

Second. — Theobromine resembles theine and caffeine, but is not identi- 
cal with them. .It is found to contain a larger proportion of nitrogen. All 
analyses agree upon this point, although the results of different chemists 
are not strictly in accord in the proportion of nitrogen assigned to each. 
The following selected analysis may be given as an illustration of the 
relative ultimate composition: 



Carbon, 
Hydrogen, 
Nitrogen, 
Oxygen, 



Theobromine. 


Theine. 


(Woskresensky.) 


(Mulder.) 


. 46.33 


49.48 


. 4.55 


5.37 


. 35.38 


28.52 


. 13.74 


16.63 



100.00 



100.00 



Although not identical with theine and caffeine, it has been found by 
Strecker that theobromine may be made to yield caffeine. Tlieobromine, 
in fact, conjoined with methyl, produces caffeine, so that caffeine has 
been regarded as a methylated theobromine. The quantity of theobro- 
mine present in cocoa amounts to about 2 per cent. 

Third. — Fatty matter, known as cacao butter. This constitutes a firm 
fat, and, unlike most other fats, keeps without becoming rancid on expo- 
sure to air. It amounts to about half the weight of the cocoa. 

Fourth. — Albuminous matter. About one-fifth part of cocoa is com- 
posed of this. 

i^^/)?A.— Starch. 

The following, according to Payen's observations, represents the aver- 
age composition of cocoa of good quality deprived of husk and not sub- 
mitted to roastinsr: 



Composition of Cocoa (Payen). 

Cacao butter, . . . . 

Albumen, fibrine, and other nitrogenous matter. 

Theobromine, .... 

Starch, with traces of sugar. 

Cellulose, ..... 

Coloring matter, aromatic essence. 

Mineral matter, .... 

vv ater. • • • • • 



48 to 50 
21 to 20 

4 to 2 
11 to 10 

3 to 2 

traces. 

3 to 4 
10 to 12 



100 100 



236 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Looked at dietetically, cocoa possesses, though in a milder degree, 
the properties of tea and coffee; but it stands apart from these articles 
in the high nutritive power which its composition gives it. Containing, 
as pure cocoa does, twice as much nitrogenous matter, and twenty-five 
times as much fatty matter as wheaten-flour, with a notable quantity 
of starch and an agreeable aroma to tempt the palate, it cannot be other- 
wise than a valuable alimentary material. It has been compared in this 
respect to milk. It conveniently furnishes a large amount of agree- 
able nourishment in a small bulk, and in South America cocoa and maize- 
cakes are used bj^ travellers, and form a food several days' supply of 
which is easily carried. 

Chocolate and the various preparations of cocoa are usually con- 
sumed with milk; and, taken with bread, will suffice, in the absence of 
any other kind of food, to furnish a good repast. A preparation of cocoa 
and condensed milk is made and sold in closed tins by the Condensed 
Milk Company. Thus preserved, the admixture is ready for use at any 
time, requiring only the addition of water. 

Whilst possessing highly nutritive properties, its richness in fat ren- 
ders cocoa heavy and oppressive to a delicate stomach. It is therefore 
apt to disagree with the invalid and dyspeptic. 

The remarks that have been made regarding the nutritive capacity of 
chocolate and prepared cocoa do not apply to cocoa nibs in the manner 
they are used. In the former case the entire article is consumed; whereas 
in the latter only a decoction of the coarsely crushed seed is employed, 
and this contains but a portion only of its constituents. Indeed, the de- 
coction of the nibs forms a beverage holding a closely analogous position 
to tea and coffee. 

Fictitious cocoas. — In the United States the earth-nut, ground-nut, 
or pea-nut [Arachis hypogoea)^ a kind of oily, underground pea, is roasted 
and converted into a spurious form of cocoa, and also largely grown for 
the table and for the production of oil. In Spain, also, the root of the 
Cyperus esculentus, or earth chestnut, is roasted and used as a substitute 
both for coffee and chocolate. Neither of these products contain any 
theobromine. 

Coca. — There is yet another article belonging to the group under 
consideration remaining to be spoken of, which must not be confounded 
on account of its approaching similarity of name with that which has just 
been described. The leaves of the Erythroxylon Coca are employed in 
South America for furnishing a beverage which is consumed in the same 
way as tea, coffee, and cocoa. In Bolivia and Peru they are used by the 
natives for chewing, and are said to produce powerful effects upon the 
system. In Europe they have been sometimes administered as a medici- 
nal agent. They contain a nitrogenized crystallizable principle called 
cocaine^ which closely agrees in its chemical relations, and is identical, it 
is asserted, in its physiological action, with theine, caffeine, guaranine, 
and theobromine. In the British Medical Joxirnal^ vol. i., p. 510, 1874, 
there is to be found a communication by Dr. Alexander Bennett upon the 
properties of this principle, and it has been made the subject of investi- 
gation {vide Uritish Medical Journal, vol. ii,, 1874) by the Committee 
of the British Medical Association for investigating the antagonism of 
medicines. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 237 



ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. 

There are several beverages derived from various sources in use which 
contain alcohol. The starting-point of all is a vegetable product in 
which starch or sugar is present. Fermentation is either allowed to oc- 
cur spontaneously, as in the case of wine; or else set up by the addition 
of a ferment, as in that of beer. In this artificial way only is it that 
alcohol is developed, and whilst the beverages containing it all agree in 
exerting the same kind of stimulating action on the system, they differ 
in their effects in other respects, according to the associated constituents 
that may happen to be present. Their chief properties are due to alcohol, 
but their other constituents must by no means be regarded as playing an 
unimportant part. 

The position held by alcohol in an alimentary point of view has been 
discussed in a previous part of this work [vide p. 82 et seq.). It will be 
there seen that much divergence of opinion has prevailed upon the prime 
question, whether alcohol is to be regarded as possessing any alimentary 
value or not. It will suffice here to refer the reader to what has already 
been mentioned, and to state that the weight of evidence appears to be 
in favor of the affirmative. A small portion seems undoubtedly to es- 
cape from the body unconsumed, but the main part of the alcohol that may 
be ingested is lost sight of, and presumably from being turned to account 
in the system. In the next few pages the general effects of the alcoholic 
beverages will be spoken of, preparatory to attention being given to their 
separate consideration. 

Apart from any effect due to oxidation or consumption within the 
system — apart, in other words, from any direct alimentary application — 
the liquids of the class under consideration exert a marked influence upon 
the functions of the body. Taken in moderate quantity they increase the 
activity of the circulation. The heart beats more rapidly. The pulse 
becomes not only more frequent, but at the same time fuller. The arteries 
dilating allow the blood to flow more freely to the capillaries, thus lead- 
ino- to turo-escence of the small cutaneous vessels, and accountino- for the 
flushing of the face that is noticeable. It has been affirmed that the tem- 
perature is lowered. Dr. Parkes, however, from his recent thermometrio 
observations, remarks that there is but little change induced in the tem- 
perature of the axilla and rectum of healthy men, but that what change 
occurs is in the direction of increase. The warm blood from the in- 
terior circulating more freely over the surface, imparts a temporary glow 
to external parts, but the outside is warmed at the expense of the inside. 
The amount of urinary secretion is increased, the appetite augmented, 
digestion promoted, the nervous system stimulated, and the mental facul- 
ties exhilarated. In moderate quantities, in short, observation shows that 
the alcoholic beverages act as a general stimulant. 

It has been asserted that alcohol diminishes tissue-metamorphosis, and 
economises the consumption of material in the body. Amongst his other 
inquiries, Dr. Parkes has given attention to this point of consideration, 
and failed to observe the production of any alteration of importance in 
the elimination of nitrogen — a phenomenon which may be taken as a 
measure, other circumstances being equal, of tissue-destruction. It ap- 
pears unlikely, in the face of the chemical results, he remarks, "that it 
can enable the body to perform more w^ork on less food, though, by quick- 
ening a failing heart, it may enable work to be done which otherwise 



238 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

could not be so. It may thus act like the spur in the side of a horse, 
eliciting force, though not supplying it." A discrepancy^ exists in the 
results of the experiments of different authorities upon the elimination 
of carbonic acid, and upon this point precise data obtained by the im- 
proved method of investigation adopted at the present day are wanted. 

Dr. Parkes has submitted to direct investigation the question whether 
the effect of alcohol is to increase or diminish the facility with which 
work is performed. In one of his series of observations ('' Proceedings 
of the Royal Society," vol. xx., p. 412, 1872), a soldier passed a period 
of three days performing a certain amount of work without the use of 
brandy; and, after three days of rest, another period of three days' work 
with twelve ounces of brandy joer diein, administered in four-ounce doses, 
at 10 A.M., 2 P.M., and 6 p.m. This man was requested to observe as 
closely as he could whether he did the work better with or without the 
brandy. He commenced the brandy period, it is stated, with the belief 
that the brandy would enable him to perform the work more easily, but 
ended with the opposite conviction. The work performed was chiefly 
done in the two hours immediately succeeding each dose of brandy. The 
two hours' work after the first four fluid ounces appeared to be accom- 
plished equally well with and without the brandy. The man, it is said, 
could tell no difference except, to use his own words, *' the brandy seemed 
to give him a kind of spirit which made him think he could do a great 
deal of work, but when he came to do it he found he was less capable 
than he thought." After the second four ounces of brandy, at 2 p.m., 
he felt hot and thirsty, but on the first two days thought he worked as 
well as on the water days. On the third day, however, the report sa^'S 
that he had palpitation of the heart, and was surprised to find that he was 
obliged to stop from time to time because of his breathing not being so 
good. The third four fluid ounces of brandy, taken at 6 p.m., produced 
on all three days very marked narcotic effects. The account given is that 
** immediately after taking it he became heavy, felt the greatest indispo- 
sition to exert himself, and could hardly refrain from throwing down his 
spade and giving up his w^ork. He worked with no vigor, and on the 
second evening thought his muscular power decidedly lessened. On the 
third evening it was raining; he could not dig, but took walkiiig and 
running exercise under cover. On attempting to run, he found, to his 
great surprise, as he is a particularly fast and good runner, that he could 
not do so. He had palpitation, and got out of breath, and was obliged 
to stop." 

The experience of this man harmonizes with the advice that is given 
by guides and others w^ho are in the habit of undertaking the ascent of 
mountains. Spirits, they say, take away the strength from the legs, and 
should, therefore, be avoided during a fatiguing expedition. 

Some further evidence has also recently been published by Dr. Parkes, 
upon the subject under consideration, drawn from the experience of the 
Ashanti campaign of 1874.* In the introduction to the report he says, 
** The first effect of alcohol, when given during a march in a moderate 
dose (for example what is equal to one fluid ounce of absolute alcohol) 
[the amount contained in about 2^ fluid ounces of ordinary spirits] is re- 
viving, but this effect is transient. As shown both in the report and in 
the first appendix, the reviving effect goes off after, at the utmost, two 

* Report on the Issue of a Spirit Ration during the Ashnati Campai^ of 1874. 
ChurchiUs, 1875. 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 239 

and a half miles of additional march, and sometimes much before this ; 
then the previous languor and sense of exhaustion not only return, but 
are sometimes more intense; and if alcohol is again resorted to, its effects 
now are less satisfactory. Its reviving power is usually not so marked, 
and its peculiar anaesthetic and narcotizing influence can often be dis- 
tinctly traced. The men feel heavy, dull, disinclined to march, and are 
less willino: and cheerful." 

Surgeon Kynsey, in relating his personal experience, said, " Some of 
the marches between the Prah and Coomassie were very long, and as we 
got far up the country and near the enemy, although the actual length of 
the march was short, still it extended over a great many hours. On a 
few of these occasions I was induced to try, from excessive fatigue, the 
effects of a little spirit, with the following result. At first the fatigue 
seemed to me to be less; I felt decidedly better. But as I marched on, 
and the effects of the spirit disappeared, I felt decidedly less able to 
march, and the sense of fatigue became much more intensified, so much 
so that I never took the smallest portion of spirit during a march but I 
reorretted doing- so." 

Sergeant Perrin was of opinion that **if the rum [the form of spirit- 
ration issued] had been given on the march itself it would have done no 
good, only harm. His reason for saying so was that on two or three oc- 
casions on the march one of the doctors gave him a glass of grog; the 
effect was reviving for a quarter of an hour, and after that he felt a great 
deal more lans-uid than he did before." 

Whilst the general testimony resulted in condemnation of the employ- 
ment of spirits as a restorative during the fatigue of marching, the evi- 
dence on the other hand went strongly to show that, issued after the 
day's fatigue was over, the spirit-ration exerted a beneficial reviving ef- 
fect, and afterward induced an increased feeling of warmth accompanied 
by the promotion of sleep. Upon these points Corporal Hindley, who 
had been always a temperate man and never in the habit previously of 
taking spirits, expressed himself as follows: — "Had two rations of rum 
(a ration equal to 2^ fluid ounces) on the way to the Prah, taken in the 
evening just before going to bed. Thought it useful; when there was no 
issue, felt chilly and cold at night; felt warmer when he had taken the 
rum, and slept better; had no doubt about feeling warmer and sleeping 
better. On the next day felt no ill-effects from the rum." 

The writino-s of Dr. Anstie and Dr. Parkes ao;ree in assiornine: about 1 
fluid ounce of absolute alcohol, which is equivalent to 2 to S-g- fluid ounces 
of ordinary spirits, as the limit of moderation for a dose, or the quantity 
that can be disposed of in the organism of an adult male without produ- 
cing an}^ perceptible injurious effect upon the bodily functions. Up to 
this quantity its action, as already described, is that of a stimulant; but 
beyond, it begins to exert a narcotizing influence, and, when taken to 
excess, a more or less profound state of narcotism, as common observation 
but too abundantly testifies, may be induced. The effects now witnessed 
upon the general system are no longer those of a stimulant, but exactly 
the reverse, and hence to describe its action in large doses it may be spoken 
of as a depressant and narcotic. 

It has been stated that, when consumed in moderate quantity, the 
alcoholic beverages appear to encourage the appetite and promote diges- 
tion. Taken in excessive quantity, however, nothing with greater cer- 
tainty destroys the appetite and impairs digestion. 

Popular belief sanctions the practice which is adopted by many of 



240 A TPwEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

swallowing a mouthful of brandy or some other neat spirit after partaking 
of an indigestible article of food. Now, alcohol consumed in this way, by 
stimulating the mucous membrane of the stomach, and exciting an in- 
creased flow of gastric secretion, is calculated in reality to afford assist- 
ance to digestion, in harmony with the traditional idea that is entertained 
and that experience may be assumed to have suggested. Should it be 
introduced, however, in larger quantity into the stomach, an opposite re- 
sult is to be looked for. The alcohol now, by virtue of the amount pres- 
ent, will throw down the nitrogenous digestive principle — pepsine — in a 
solid form, and so destroy the energy of the solvent juice. Thus, whilst 
a small quantity, by its stimulant action, may assist digestion, a large 
quantity stops it, and accounts for the rejection of food in an undigested 
state that is frequently noticed to occur after the too free indulgence in 
alcoholic liquids at or after a meal. 

The effects of strong alcoholic liquids taken repeatedly to a prejudicial 
extent are well known to the practical physician. By direct contact it 
acts upon the stomach, and leads to a destruction of its secreting tubules. 
Nothing with such certainty impairs the appetite and the digestive power 
as the continued use of strong alcoholic liquids. From the stomach the 
alcohol is absorbed, and with its distribution through the system it inter- 
feres with nutrition, and leads to a general textural deterioration. Upon 
certain organs, however, its effects are more manifest than upon others. 
The liver, kidneys, and nervous system, for instance, very strikingly suf- 
fer, a diseased state being set up, which forms a distinctly recognizable 
source of death. Nothing, indeed, as a rule, with greater certainty leads 
to premature death than alcoholic intemperance, and the managers of in- 
surance offices are well acquainted with this fact. 

It has been mentioned that one of the immediate effects of the inges- 
tion of alcohol is turgescence of the small cutaneous vessels of the face, 
producing the flushed appearance that is noticeable. A frequent repe- 
tition of this condition leads ultimately to its permanent establishment, 
and thus accounts for the well-known visage acquired by the Baccha- 
nalian. 

I have been hitherto referring to the action of alcohol ^:)er se, and in 
spirits we have little or nothing, it may be considered, besides this action 
to deal with, except, perhaps, in the case of hollands and gin, which pos- 
sess diuretic properties, due to the flavoring agent (juniper) added. In 
the primary fermented liquids, however, there are associated ingredients 
which give rise to the production of modified and additional effects upon 
the system. The beverages, for instance, which are rich in saccharine and 
extractive matters, as particularly stout, porter, and the heavier ales, pos- 
sess a nourishing and fattening power which does not belong to a simple 
alcoholic liquid. Such beverages also are apt to occasion headache and 
gastric derangement, or what falls under the denomination of biliousness, 
in those who lead a sedentary mode of life, whilst a lighter and purer al- 
coholic drink may be found to agree. Again, gout appears to be the off- 
spring, not of a simple alcoholic liquid, but of alcohol in combination with 
saccharine and extractive matter; for observation shows that it is not the 
spirit, but the beer and port wine drinker that is especially liable to be- 
come the subject of the disease. As alcohol alone is not the source of 
gout, neither, it may be said, are the saccharine and extractive matters 
without the alcohol. It seems as though these solid, imperfectly fer- 
mented matters underwent, under the influence of the presence of alcohol, 
a defective assimilation in the system, and so gave rise to the development 



ALIMENTAEY SUBSTANCES. 241 

of the morbid products, TvHich form the source of the chief manifest«,tions 
of the disease. 

Beer. — Beer consists of a fermented infusion of malt flavored with 
hops, and is a beverage of great antiquity. Barley is moistened with 
water, and allowed to germinate to a certain extent. It is then placed 
upon a kiln, where it is exposed to heat and dried, and the amount of heat 
employed determines the kind of malt produced. Pale malt, which is 
used for brewing ale, is dried at a temperature below 140°. Porter and 
stout derive their color from malt that has been dried at a higher temper- 
ature; and malt, called high dried, patent, or black malt, is specially made 
for employment as a coloring agent by roasting the grain in cylinders, in 
the same manner as coffee. 

The object of malting is the conversion of the starch of the grain into 
dextrine and sugar. This in part occurs during the process of germination, 
the change being effected by the action of a nitrogenous principle of the 
nature of a ferment, which is known as diastase, and which is developed 
during germination. Kiln-dried malt, however, yields a larger amount of 
saccharine extract than that which has been allowed to dry spontaneously 
in the air; hence the conversion is still carried on during the exposure to 
heat in the kiln. Still unchanged starch remains, but the requisite con- 
ditions are present for the completion of the change during the prelimi- 
nary part of the brewing process. 

Brewing consists of three operations. In the first place, an infusion 
of the malt is obtained. This is then boiled with hops, and the product 
is afterward made to undergo fermentation. 

The malt after being crushed, is placed in the mash tun, and water at 
a temperature of about 160° Fahr. is poured upon it. The two are well 
stirred together, and subsequently left covered over for a few hours. This 
operation is called mashing, and the liquid which results from it, sweet 
xoort. The water takes up the saccharine matter contained in the malt, 
and, under the influence of the heat and moisture, the diastase acts upon 
the unchanged starch existing, and completes its conversion into sugar. 
Indeed, the diastase present is capable of effecting the transformation of 
a much laro;er amount of starch into suo;ar than that which the malt itself 
contains; and hence a certain quantity of unmalted barley or other grain 
can be utilized in makino- a " wort " for fermentation. The excise res-ula- 
tions of England do not permit the use of unmalted grain for brewing, but 
by distillers it is largely employed. In Belgium, potato starch, it seems, 
is somewhat extensively used in brewing, upon the principle explained, in 
the place of grain. The saccharine quality of the wort may be also in- 
creased by the addition of sugar itself, and a prepared sugar (probably 
grape-sugar) is sold to brewers for this purpose, and is considered by them 
to give improvement to the beer. 

The wort, which has a marked sweet taste, is next transferred to a 
copper, and boiled with the appropriate quantity, according to the kind 
of beer intended to be produced, of hops. B\^ this, the liquid acquires 
the aromatic bitterness belonging to beer, and the effect of the hops seems 
further to exert a preservative influence over the product. The liquid is 
now drawn off and strained from the hops, and placed in shallow coolers 
for the temperature to be lowered as quickly as possible. Refrigeration 
is also sometimes further aided by special measures for the purpose. 
When sufficiently cooled, the concluding process is performed, which con- 
sists of adding yeast, and allowing fermentation to occur. The addition 
16 



242 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

of yeast is not indispensable, for fermentation, it is found, will occur 
without it, but a considerably longer time is required. On tliis account 
it is usual to start the fermentation with yeast, and by the end of a few 
hours signs of the commencement of the process are visible, and within 
three or four days' time it is over. In the absence of yeast it requires a 
day or two for fermentation to commence, and a fortnight or three weeks 
to be completed, but the resulting beer is said to have a more vinous flavor 
than ordinarily brewed beer, and to keep longer without becoming sour. 

By the process of fermentation the sugar of the wort is converted 
into alcohol and carbonic acid — the latter escaping, and the former giving 
to the beer its intoxicating property. When the process is over, the fer- 
mented liquid is either allowed to clarify spontaneously, or the suspended 
matter is carried down by the use of finings. It is lastly stored and al- 
lowed to ripen. 

Scrupulous attention requires to be paid to all the minor points con- 
nected with the art of brewing. The quality of the beer and its power of 
keeping not only depend on the amount and quality of the materials used, 
but equally as much on the skill and care with which the several steps of 
the operation of brewing are carried out. The composition of the water 
used exerts a more or less marked influence on the product. The spring 
water of Burton-on-Trent is well known to stand in high repute for the 
pale and bitter ales which are now so largely consumed, and it is sup- 
posed that the sulphate of lime contained in it aids in clarifying and pro- 
ducing a bright and clear liquid. 

Several varieties of beer are prepared. The term ale is applied to that 
which is made from pale malt. Vastly different qualities are sold, depending 
upon the amount of malt and hops employed: the former giving strength 
in alcohol, the latter in bitterness. Formerly the strong alcoholic ales were 
chiefly in request, but latterly the popular taste has changed, and it is 
now a light, bitter ale which is held in the highest esteem. This was first 
especially prepared for the Indian market, and hence the name of Indian 
pale ale, by which it is known in addition to that of hitter ale. Great care 
and attention require to be bestowed on the manufacture of this bever- 
age, and on account of its clearness and brightness, and its delicate color 
and taste, the best materials only can be employed. Its richness in the 
aromatic-bitter principle of the hop gives it its predominant character, 
but at the same time, whilst containing a moderate amount of alcohol, the 
quantity of extractive matter is low, and fermentation has been carried to 
an extent to render it comparatively free from sugar. Porter is prepared 
from and is dependent for its strength on pale malt, but high dried malt 
is added to communicate color and flavor. It is looked upon as more easy 
of digestion and assimilation than ale of a corresponding quality. Stout 
constitutes a beverage of the same nature as porter. Its chief character- 
istic is the large proportion of extractive matter that is present. What 
is called London Cooper is generally understood to represent a mixture 
of stout and porter, but a distinct beer, occupying an intermediate posi- 
tion between the two, is also brewed and sold under this denomination. 

Beer contains the following ingredients: water, alcohol, sugar, dex- 
trine and other allied substances, nitrogenous matter, traces of fatty 
matter, aromatic, bitter, and coloring principles, saline matter, variable 
quantities of carbonic and acetic acids. 

The alcohol, sugar and its allies, and the bitter principle, form the con- 
stituents which give to beer its characteristic properties. 

The alcohol varies in different kinds of beer from 1 or 2 to about 9 or 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 



243 



10 per cent, by volume. The following is the proportion according to the 
analysis of Brande, the amount referring to alcohol of the sp. gr. 0.825 at 
60° Fahr., which consists of 89 per cent, of absolute alcohol and 11 per 
cent, of water: 

Alcohol, sp. gr. 0.825, 
per cent. , by measure. 

. 8.88 



Burton ale, 

Edinburgh ale, . 

London ale (average), 

Brown stout, 

London porter (average), 

London small beer (average^, 



6.22 
6.20 
6.80 
4.20 
1.28 



Malt extract, 


Alcobol, 


Analyzed 


per cent. 


per cent. 


by 


. 6.0 


5.4 


Kaiser. 


. 6.8 


6.9 


Balling. 


. 14.5 


5.9 


Hoffmann. 


. 10.9 


8.5 


Kaiser. 



Adopting mean numbers, a pint (20 ounces) of beer will contain about 
one ounce of alcohol (Parkes). 

The amount of solid extractive matter derived from the malt (chiefly 
sugar and other carbohydrates) varies from about 4 to 15 per cent. It is 
lowest in the bitter and highest in the strong and sweet ales and stout. 
Subjoined are the results of special analyses of certain beers for malt ex- 
tract and alcohol; 



Barclay & Perkins' London porter, 
London porter, .... 
Burton ale, ..... 
Scotch ale (Edinburgh), 

An imperial pint of good porter yields in general about an ounce and 
a half of extract (Brande). 

Beer is a refreshing, exhilarating, nutritive, and, when taken to ex- 
cess, an intoxicating beverage. Its nutritive properties are due to the 
extractive matter, consisting principally of carbohydrates, which it con- 
tains, and observation sufficiently testifies that beer which is highly 
charged with extract exerts a decidedly fattening influence. Its bitter 
principle renders it a stomachic and tonic. A light beer well flavored with 
the hop is calculated to promote digestion, and may be looked upon as 
constitutino^ one of the most wholesome of the alcoholic class of bevera2:es. 
It is not all, however, who can drink beer without experiencing incon- 
venience. In the case of persons of a bilious temperament, also with 
dyspeptics, and sometimes others, it is apt to excite headache, heaviness, 
and other sensations which fall under the popular designation of " bilious- 
ness." The stronger beers, taken continuously in excess, induce a full 
and plethoric state, and are liable, particularly if conjoined with sedentary 
habits, to result in the accumulation of defectively oxidized products, as 
uric acid, etc., in the system, and so lead to the developement of gout. 

Cider, Peert. — These form fermented beverages, derived respec- 
tively from the juice of the apple and the pear. Fruit that is not fit for 
eating, on account of its acid, bitter, or rough taste, may be made use of 
for their manufacture. The fruit is crushed to a pulp, and this is sub- 
jected to pressure for the extraction of the juice. The amount of juice 
yielded nearly equals half the weight of the pulp employed. The juice 
contains the elements required for starting fermentation, and on exposure 
to air at the appropriate temperature the formation of alcohol takes place, 



244 A TREATISE OIST FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

a froth collecting on the surface and a sediment subsiding. This consti- 
tutes the most delicate part of the operation, and upon the manner in 
which it is conducted depends, in a great measure, the quality of the pro- 
duct. If allowed to proceed too far, the process passes into the acetous 
fermentation, and the liquid becomes sour and thin, and if not far enough 
the product is thick and unpalatable. The fermentation, by rights, should 
lead to a spontaneous clarification. When a pale product is required the 
pulp is submitted to pressure immediately after crushing. If the pulp be 
left for some hours it undergoes a change, which leads to a coloration of 
the juice. The fruit should be taken at its maximum richness in saccha- 
rine matter, and for this it should be gathered when ripe, and afterward 
stored away for a month or six weeks, to allow it to mature. 

Cider and perry are closely analogous liquids, but have a different 
flavor. The following represents the percentage of spirit in the samples 
that were examined by Brande: 

Alcohol, sp. gv, 0.825 at 60° F., 
per cent., by measure. 

Cider, highest average, . , . . .9.87 
Ditto, lowest do., . . . , . . 5.^1 
Perry, average of four samples, .... 7.26 

In some localities cider and perry are consumed as the common drink, 
taking the place of beer elsewhere. They constitute agreeable, whole- 
some, and refreshing stimulating beverages when in a perfectly sound 
condition. Their proneness, however, to undergo the acetous fermenta- 
tion renders it necessary that they should be drunk with caution, for in a 
sour state they are apt to occasion colic and diarrhoea with those who are 
not in the habit of constantly taking them. 

Wine. — The term wine, when employed alone, is understood to sig- 
nify the fermented juice of the grape. The word, however, is also used 
in a more comprehensive way, being applied to the fermented liquids ob- 
tained from fruits generally, and likewise other vegetable products. But, 
thus employed, a prefix is attached expressive of the source of the article, 
as, for instance, with orange wine, rhubarb wine, ginger wine, parsnip 
wine, honey wine, etc. It is only to the fermented juice of the grape 
that the succeeding remarks are intended to refer. 

Wine constitutes a beverage that appears to have been known from 
the earliest periods of history. Until toward the close of the seventeenth 
century the greater portion of the wine consumed in England was derived 
from France. In consequence of the hostilities that then broke out be- 
tween the two countries, a duty was for a time imposed on French wines 
of so heavy a nature as to be almost prohibitory to their introduction. 
Political influences were now also directed toward encouraging the impor- 
tation and consumption of port, and soon the wines of Portugal assumed 
the place that had been previously occupied by those of France. As 
regards sherry, this is shown to have been well known in England in the 
seventeenth century, by a work, published in 1619, entitled " Pasquil's 
Palinodia, and his Progresse to the Taverne, where, after the survey of 
the sellar, you are presented with a pleasant pynte of Poeticall Sherry." 
The author extols sherry, against which " no fiery red-faced claret," he 
says, can stand. Much of the "sack" formerly in use appears to have 
been sherry, and this is corroborated by the following quaint lines taken 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 245 

from the above-mentioned work, which contain also an allusion to several 
other drinks; 

" Strong hoop'd in bonds are here constrained to tarry, 
Two kinsmen neere allyde to sherry sack, 
Sweet Malligo, and delicate canary, 
Which warme the stomacks that digestion lacke." 

*'The broth with barley sodden, 

Compares not with this licker, 
The drayman's beere is not so cleere. 

And foggy ale is thicker : 
Metheglin is too fulsome, 

Cold cyder and raw perry, 
And all drinks stand with cap in hand, 

In presence of old sherry. 
Then let us drinke old sacke, old sacke, boyes, 

Which makes us blythe and merry." 

The import duties have always largely influenced the consumption of 
wines, and previous to 1861 no distinction was made between the light 
wines of France and Germany and the strong wines of Spain and Portu- 
gal. This necessarily told seriously in a commercial point of view against 
the former on account of the difference in character belonging to the two 
classes of wines; for not only do the stronger go farther, but a bottle 
when opened may be kept and gradually drunk instead of spoiling unless 
immediately consumed. In consequence of the altered tariff introduced 
by Mr. Gladstone, the year 1861 will in all probability be hereafter looked 
upon as forming an important era in the history of wine consumption in 
England. Great changes have even already been produced by the more 
equitable adjustment of the import duty which admits light wines at a 
lower rate than the strong. All wines containing less than 26 per cent, 
of proof spirit (and this will include all natural wines — that is to say, 
wines which constitute simply the fermented juice of the grape, without 
any addition of spirit) are now admitted at Is. per gallon; while if con- 
taining above 26 per cent, the wine is regarded as belonging to the class 
of brandied or fortified wines, and is charged with the higher duty of 2s. 
6d. per gallon, the maximum strength allowed being 42 per cent, of 
proof spirit — a strength which may be looked upon as fairly including 
all beverages that can justly lay claim to the title of wine. Liquids con- 
taining over the 42 per cent, are regarded as falling within the category 
of spirits, and are thereupon taxed at a much higher rate. 

On account of the free trade which has thus been opened out by the 
present arrangements of the duties on wines, a large number of formerly 
unknown varieties of natural wines now find their way, to the advantage 
it may be considered of the public, from different countries into England, 
and afford an extensive choice even to the consumer of moderate means. 
Although falling under one generic name, these products of different 
countries present wide differences in their general characters and proper- 
ties. Now, constituting as it does an article which is capable of afford- 
ing valuable therapeutic aid, and called upon as the medical practitioner 
so frequently is to advise which kind of wine is the most suitable for his 
patient, it becomes necessary that he should possess, as a part of his 
professional knowledge, information that will enable him to give a judi- 
cious recommendation — indeed, it is scarcely too much to say that for 
those who practice amongst the well-to-do classes, an acquaintance with 
the distinctive virtues of the various wines to be met with around us is 



246 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

as essential to his success as a knowledge of the properties of the several 
drugs. The subject is an extensive one, but I will endeavor to treat it 
in as concise a manner as is consistent with due regard to the claims of 
explicitness. 

Our starting-point is the grape. A few words are, therefore, necessary 
upon the nature of this fruit. It is a succulent berry, provided with a 
thin but tough enveloping structure or skin, which fulfils the office of 
confining the central juicy substance and preserving it from contact with 
the air. 

The skins of some grapes are colorless or yellow, whilst others are im- 
pregnated with a deep blue coloring matter, from which the color of red 
wine is derived, for this, like other vegetable blues, becomes reddened in the 
presence of an acid. Chemistry shows that in both varieties of grape the 
skins contain a considerable amount of astringent matter under the form 
of tannic acid, and likewise a certain quantity of a waxy material which 
may be looked upon as evidently designed by its intercepting action on 
the passage of water to protect the fruit from the influence of wet on the 
outside and impede the escape of moisture from within. 

The pulp or central fleshy part of the grape constitutes an organized 
structure comprising a mass of delicate vesicles holding the juice of the 
fruit. Thus, instead of beino* loose and free to run out when the berrv is 
cut in half, the juice is retained in receptacles which require to be broken 
up before it is in a position to escape. It is this which necessitates the 
process of crushing, either by treading or the agency of machinery, which 
is had recourse to for procuring the juice as the first step in the manufac- 
ture of wine. 

Except in a particular variety, named the tintilla or teinturier grape, 
the fleshy part of the fruit is devoid of color, or only possesses a faint 
yellowish or pinkish tint, although the skin may be deeply colored. The 
fresh juice, therefore, of the red and black presents the same appearance 
as that of the white grape. The coloring matter of the husk, indeed, as 
it exists in the fruit, is in a fixed or insoluble state, and it is only after the 
juice has fermented that it possesses the power of dissolving it out so as 
to lead to its presence in wine. In the above-named exceptional variety, 
however, the berry is pervaded throughout Avith coloring matter in a dis- 
solved state, and thus the juice is dyed with it like that of the elderberry 
and black currant. The vine in question is specially cultivated, it is said, 
in some localities to be employed for increasing the color of wines obtained 
from other grapes. 

Imbedded in the substance of the pulp are the little hard masses con- 
stituting the seeds, and known as the pips or stones. These, unlike the 
pulp, but like the husk, are rich in astringent matter, which gives rise to 
the rough taste that is perceived when they are crunched between the 
teeth. Chemistry shows that they also contain a certain amount of fatty 
matter. 

As the grape-stalks are frequently placed in the fermenting vat to- 
gether with the fruit, it may be mentioned that these, like the husks and 
stones, contain tannic acid, and thus help to give astringency to a wine 
into the preparation of which they have been allowed to enter. 

Such is the constitution of the fruit which forms the basis of the vari- 
ety of products comprehended under the term wine. Now, of the varia- 
tion existing in the article under consideration, a part is dependent, it is 
true, upon the process of manufacture, but a part also is attributable to 
the characters of the grape employed. It is not difficult to realize that 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 247 

the differences existing in the qualities of the fruit should exert their in- 
fluence upon the article obtained from it. The variety of vine, the soil 
upon which it is grown, the particular surroundings of the localit}", the 
general climate of the place, the climate peculiar to the year, and the de- 
gree of ripeness of the fruit, all produce their modifying influence and tell 
upon the character of the wine. Ordinarily the juice of the grape is de- 
void of any decided fragrance, and the aroma of the wine is developed 
durins: fermentation and from the chan^-es occurrinsc as time advances 
after bottling; but in some instances — and the muscat grape affords a 
noticeable example — the fruit possesses a pronounced aroma which is 
communicated to the wine obtained from it. 

The constituents of the grape which produce the most prominent in- 
fluence upon the character of a wine are the acids and sugar, and these 
vary in amount to a very marked extent under different circumstances. 

As already mentioned, tannic acid is encountered in the husks, pips, 
and stalks. This gives the quality of roughness or astringency to a 
wine. It does not exist in the juice. The acids met with here are malic 
and tartaric, the former preponderating in proportion in the unripe, the 
latter in the ripe fruit. As the fruit advances to maturity the amount 
of acid originally present undergoes diminution, and notably of the two 
acids, the malic. This ensues (in common with what occurs during the 
ripening of fruit in general) as a result of the influence of the light and 
heat of the sun. With this diminution of acidity an increase takes place 
in the amount of sugar; and thus, as sour fruit becomes sweet, its acquired 
absence of sourness must not be entirely attributed to loss of acids, for 
the increase in the amount of suo^ar will have the effect, accordino- to its 
extent, of covering or concealing the taste of acidity. 

The amount of free acid present in the juice of grapes produced by 
different countries, and in different seasons, varies from about 0.3 to 1.5 
per cent., reckoned under the form of tartaric acid. For the production 
of good wine it is said that the proportion should not exceed about 0.5 
per cent. From what has been stated, it will readily be understood that 
it is especially in the more northern wine-producing localities, as, for in- 
stance, the Rhine and Moselle districts, that the disadvantage arising 
from an excess of acidity is most experienced. A great deal of uncer- 
tainty, dependent upon the character of the season, is here found to ex- 
ist. It is only in good years, indeed, that the grapes sufficiently ripen to 
give rise to a thoroughly satisfactory product, and in bad years they may 
remain too sour in some places to yield an acceptable wine. The propor- 
tionate amount of acid is sometimes artificially diminished by diluting 
the juice and adding sugar. Thus, a larger yield of less acid wine is af- 
forded, but at the expense of quality in other respects, as the general 
constituents of the juice are thereby thrown out of their proper relation. 

Of all the constituent elements of the grape, the sugar must be looked 
upon as holding the position of first importance, because it is the basis 
of fermentation, and without it there could be no production of wine. 
Chemists enumerate several varieties of sugar, and recognize differences 
in their chemical and physical properties, and also to some extent in their 
composition. The kind of sugar met with in the grape is named after 
the fruit itself, and also called glucose. This, however, admits of further 
differentiation, and, instead of one absolutely identical form of sugar being 
present, two modifications are found to exist. The one is susceptible of 
crystallization, and crystallizes, indeed, into the little, hard, granular masses 
that are to be met with in raisins which have been kept for some time. 



248 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

It also has a right-handed rotatory influence over polarized light, and for 
this reason has received the name of dextrose. The other is non-crystal- 
lizable, and from possessing the power of turning the ray of polarized 
light to the left has been styled lajvulose. Both of these forms of sugar 
constitute well-known modifications obtainable from a variety of other 
sources beside the grape. They are both susceptible of undergoing fer- 
mentation, and otherwise, indeed, agree in manifesting the same chemical 
behavior. 

The amount of sugar present in grape-juice is subject to very exten- 
sive variation. It may range, it is said, between about 10 and 30 per 
cent. As with the acids, but in an inverse manner, the quantity is sig- 
nificantly influenced by climate and season. Whilst under the power 
exerted by the rays of the sun the sourness of fruit disappears, the qual- 
ity of sweetness becomes developed, and in proportion to the heat of the 
climate and season so is the degree of sweetness attained. Hence, it is 
to the grape grown in hot countries, as Spain, Portugal, Madeira, Italy, 
Cyprus, etc., that we must look for the largest amount of sugar. The 
effect of different summers is most conspicuous in cooler climates, and, 
as will readil}'' be understood, it is especially toward the fall, or when the 
grape is ripening, that the character of the season produces the greatest 
influence on the amount of saccharine matter. Upon the full ripening 
of the grape will depend the quality of the wine, but quality and quan- 
tity, it may be remarked, by no means necessarily go together, for in 
some years the yield may be large and the quality bad, whilst in others 
the reverse may hold good. For the production of good wine the grape- 
juice, it is stated, must contain not less than about 20 per cent, of sugar. 

A warm and, it may further be said, a dry summer is propitious, 
then, for wine-production; and to obtain wine that best combines body, 
freedom from undue acidity, and a rich, vinous flavor, we must look to 
those countries where the grape acquires the fullest ripeness, and con- 
tains a maximum of sugar and minimum of acid and watery element. In 
some districts, indeed, for the production of the choicest wines, as for in- 
stance the Chateau d'Yquem in the Sauterne district, the bunches are left 
on the vines and the berries gathered separately as they successively 
attain the fullest ripeness. Tokay, which is renowned for its luscious 
and full vinous character, is even prepared from grapes that have been 
allowed to remain on the vine till the early frosts have set in, and till 
they have undergone a certain amount of desiccation, by which the juice 
has acquired a higher concentration. It is only in the case of white 
wines, however, that this fullest ripeness or over-ripeness is allowed to 
be attained. In the case of the red wines it is necessary for the sake of 
color that the grapes should be gathered earlier; for, as will be seen fur- 
ther on, the solution of the coloring matter of the husk is effected by the 
free acid of the juice in combination with the alcohol developed during 
fermentation, and the less the quantity of acid the less the amount of 
coloring principle taken up. 

It has been stated that sugar is a necessary constituent of grape-juice 
in relation to wine-production, because it forms the fermenting principle. 
There is yet another essential ingredient, viz., the ferment, or principle to 
excite fermentation. This consists of nitrogenous matter under the form 
of albumen, and is usually deposited as lees during the process of fermen- 
tation. Properly fermented wine retains but little nitrogenous matter. 
Imperfectly fermented wine retains more, and thus becomes liable to 
spoil from the tendency to further change which its presence gives rise to. 



ALEVIEISTTARY SUBSTANCES. 249 

The astringent matter, however, which is present in red wines exerts a 
certain amount of counteracting influence by its preservative and pre- 
cipitating effects. 

The first step in the manufacture of wine after the grapes have been 
gathered, is to crush them, in order that the juice may be liberated from 
its containing vesicles. The process was formerly accomplished by the 
operation of treading, but is now chiefly effected by the aid of rollers. 
Care is taken to avoid crushing the pips and stalks, as too much astrin- 
gent matter, etc., would otherwise become taken up. So long as the juice 
is contained within the grape, and is thus protected from contact with 
the air, it is not observed to undergo fermentation. With the expressed 
juice, on the other hand, and to this the term "m^^5^" is applied, fermen- 
tation soon sets in under exposure to an appropriate temperature. No 
ferment is required to be added; the nitrogenous matter present supplies 
what is wanted for starting the change as soon as it is brought into con- 
tact with the atmosphere. It is evidently the exclusion of air by the 
skin which prevents fermentation from occurring whilst the juice is con- 
tained within the fruit. 

The process of crushing having been accomplished, the juice is either 
at once expressed and fermented alone, or else the whole is fermented 
together for a while, and then expression performed. In the former case, 
whether black or white grapes are used, a non-colored and non-astringent 
product is the result; in the latter, astringent matter is taken up from 
the skins and stones, and from the stalks also when these are allowed to 
be present. Coloring matter likewise is dissolved out, so as to produce a 
dark-colored wine, when colored grapes have been employed. The color 
of the liquid becomes gradually deeper as fermentation proceeds, in con- 
sequence of the exercise of the solvent power which is enjoyed by the 
newly developed alcohol in combination with the pre-existing acid. The 
watery juice of the grape simply impregnated with its acid fails to touch 
the coloring matter. Directly alcohol, however, is present, it becomes 
taken up, and with it also astringent matter is dissolved; for the two so 
far comport themselves alike in this respect and accompany each other, 
that the rule may be laid down, the deeper the color the rougher the 
flavor of a wine. When contact with the skins has been suflSciently pro- 
longed for the desired color and astringency to be communicated, the 
fermented liquor is separated from the ''^ mark^'' by expression. The 
*' mark,'''' or expressed residue, still contains a quantity of coloring matter 
and other vinous substances, and sometimes a spurious wine is made from 
it by mixing it with a solution of sugar and allowing fermentation to 
occur. 

The fermenting stage varies in duration according to the prevailing 
temperature. In warm localities it may be over in two or three days, 
whilst in cooler districts it may last considerably longer. As it com- 
mences, the " must " becomes more turbid than it was originally, and ap- 
pears to be in motion from the ascent, in little bubbles, of the carbonic 
acid gas which is generated. The temperature of the liquid increases, 
and a froth collects on the surface, due to the escaping gas. After the 
process has acquired its maximum activity, and has begun to quiet down, 
the contents of the fermenting vat require to be stirred up, so that all the 
elements may be brought into fresh contact. Happily for our personal 
satisfaction, this is now, certainly in all large establishments, effected by 
mechanical means, but formerly the revolting practice prevailed of men in 
a naked state entering the vats for the purpose, and it was thought that 



250 A TREATISE ON" EOOD AND DIETETICS. 

the temperature of the body was useful in promoting fermentation. It 
is stated that several men thus employed have in the course of time been 
killed by the carbonic acid gas accumulated above the surface of the fer- 
menting liquid. 

The character of a wine is materially influenced by tlie temperature at 
which fermentation takes place, and this happens to be allowed to re- 
main dependent on that which chances to belong to the locality and sea- 
son; hence, partly, the source of the variation noticeable in the wines of 
diiferent countries and years. 

By active fermentation, for instance, at a high temperature, a disap- 
pearance of sugar occurs before time has been permitted for the develop- 
ment of bouquet and flavor. The vinous elements become exhausted or 
destroyed, and the resulting wine is thin and poor, and, after quickly ma- 
turing, shows signs of possessing defective lasting power. This defective 
lasting power is advanced as a justification for the custom that has arisen 
of " fortifying," or adding spirit to the wine produced for exportation 
from hot countries, as Spain, Portugal, Madeira, and the Cape. It is 
well known that the wines which we receive from these countries are in a 
*' fortified " state, whilst those derived from cooler countries, as France, 
Germany, etc., contain no added spirit, and thereby constitute "natural" 
wines. In the former, after the fermentation has advanced to a certain 
point, the spirit is added to check its further progress before the saccha- 
rine matter is wholly exhausted. Through the saccharine and extractive 
matters thus left, the wine possesses a body and fruitiness which would 
have been lost had fermentation been allowed to continue undisturbed; 
and out of such body and fruitiness are generated those choice vinous 
qualities which become slowly developed as the liquid matures. 

In France, Germany, Hungary, etc., where a cooler climate prevails, 
fermentation occurs with less rapidity, and is allowed to proceed until it 
comes to a spontaneous termination. Here, then, the transformation of 
saccharine matter is permitted to go on until it is quite or nearly lost, 
and, in consequence, there is produced a drier or less fruity wine, and one 
which takes less time to mature. With wines of this class also, a stronger 
bouquet or aroma is developed, either as a result simply of the slower 
fermentation or of the more acid quality of the grape, for the free acid is 
concerned in combination with the alcohol in the formation of the ethe- 
real products which contribute to furnish the aroma. The Rhine and 
Moselle districts^ which are amongst the most northern of wine-producing 
localities, yield wines that are particularly characterized by the amount 
of aroma they possess, and it is here, as previously stated, that the grape 
contains the largest proportion of acid. 

Notwithstanding fermentation may have advanced to a complete ex- 
haustion of the saccharine matter, the amount of alcohol produced does 
not nearly equal that found in the "fortified" wines. It suffices for pre- 
serving the wine whilst in closed casks and bottles, but not for giving it 
the power enjoyed by the other variety of keeping when opened and 
brought into contact with the air. Should it happen, further, through 
lowness of temperature or otherwise, that fermentation has not pro- 
ceeded with sufficient activity or to a proper extent, a wine devoid even 
of lasting properties in cask and bottle will be produced, on account of 
the incomplete exhaustion and precipitation of the ferment. 

Looking at the influence that is evidently exerted by the temperature 
at which the process of fermentation is carried on, it is somewhat surpris- 
ing that means have not been yet devised and had recourse to for secur- 



ALTJVIENTARY SUBSTANCES. 251 

ing a fixed condition, and thus rendering the operation independent of 
the local circumstances that may happen to prevail. 

As time proceeds, and fermentation diminishes in activity, the liquid 
begins to grow clearer by throwing down a sediment called " Zees." This 
consists of exhausted ferment, Avith other org-anic substances and cream of 
tartar. The latter is deposited on account of its sparing solubility in 
spirit, and is therefore proportionate to the amount of alcohol developed. 
The wine is now racked off from the " lees " into casks, to prevent the 
acetous fermentation setting in. Here vinous fermentation still continues 
slowly, and more sediment of the same nature as before subsides, the cream 
of tartar belono-ins: to it beino;- thrown in a crvstalline form, and con- 
stituting w^hat is known as "argol." Again the wine is racked and trans- 
ferred to other casks; and the process is repeated, it may be, two or 
three times more. Much depends upon the care and attention bestowed 
upon these rackings of the wine performed during the first year; and 
another point that equally requires to be looked after is filling up the 
casks as occasion requires, to compensate for the loss occurring from 
soakage and evaporation, and prevent an empty space existing. The 
wine, during this storagfe, is undergoing changes which result in the ulti- 
mate development of its special flavor, bouquet, and other vinous proper- 
ties, as the stas-e of maturation advances. 

The empty casks which receive the wine in the process of racking are 
usually fumigated prior to use by burning some sulphur (a brimstone- 
match is sometimes used) within them, with the view of exerting a pre- 
servative e:$ect. 

One more step remains to be described. Wine is usually subjected 
to the finishing operation of "J|?^i^V^^." This is effected by the addition 
of an agent like the white of ^^^ or isinglass, which, undergoing precip- 
itation by the action of the wine, leads to the suspended impurities being 
entangled and carried down. By being thus clarified, wine is not only 
from its clearness and brightness rendered more pleasing to the eye, but, 
through the separation of the floating organic matter, acquires increased 
keeping power. 

It appears to be the prevailing custom in Spain, Portugal, and the 
south of France to dust the grapes over previous to being crushed with 
plaster-of-Paris, which consists of burnt gypsum or sulphate of lime. 
Sometimes the plaster is added to the must instead. The object of this 
practice, which is styled " plastering," is not intelligible, but it has the 
effect of leading to an alteration of the saline constitution of the wine, 
which certainlv there is no g-round for regrardino- as beneficial. Chalk or 
carbonate of lime would have the effect of neutralizing or removing 
acidity, but not so the sulphate of lime. This substance leads to the re- 
moval, by precipitation in combination with lime, of the greater part of 
the tartaric acid, but it gives in its place an equivalent amount of sul- 
phuric acid, which, combining with potash, furnishes the sulphate of 
potash in substitution for the natural cream of tartar of the wine. A 
"plastered" wine thus contains more sulphuric acid than is naturally 
yielded by the grape, and through this it may be recognized by the 
analyst. Dr. Hassall's analyses corroborate the statement made by Dr. 
Thudichum, that all the sherries imported into England are "plastered." 
Marsala and Madeira have been found by Dr. Hassall to be in a corre- 
sponding state to sherry.* 

In the case of champagne and other sparkling wines, a supplemental 
operation has to be performed to give them their effervescent character. 



252 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

After having been fermented in the usual way, the wine is allowed to 
remain till the following spring to become bright and clear. It is then 
bottled and dosed with a concentrated solution of sugar. This leads 
to a second fermentation occurring within the bottles, and from the car- 
bonic acid gas this time being prevented from escaping, the special 
quality belonging to the wine is acquired. During the process the wine 
throws down a further sediment, which is collected at the neck of the 
bottle, the bottles being inverted for the purpose. By an operation 
which is called " disgorging," the sediment is permitted to be blown off, 
and the bottles finally are securely corked and wired. After the lapse of 
a little time the wine becomes ready for use. For the better classes of 
champagne the dosing is made not simply with a solution of sugar, but 
with what is styled " liqueur." This consists of a specially fine-flavored 
wine mixed with sugar, and generally also brandy. The champagnes for 
different countries are dosed in such a manner as to produce the kind of 
wine, as to sweetiaess or dryness, suited to the market. 

We have now reached the point for the consideration of wine itself. 
It has been seen that fermentation constitutes the essential part of the 
process attending its production, and the two constituents of the grape^ 
juice which are directly concerned in the occurrence of this phenomenon 
are sugar and albuminoid matter — or the fermentescible body and the fer- 
ment. The main and indispensable change, then, connected with the con- 
version of grape- juice into wine, is the disappearance of sugar and its 
replacement by alcohol. There are many minor changes secondarily in- 
duced by or consequent upon the phenomenon of fermentation, and 
although these may only occur to an insignificant extent, yet their in- 
fluence is great upon the character of the wine. 

Under a chemical point of view, wine is a complex product containing 
components which are in part derived directly from the grape; in part 
owe their source to fermentation; and in part spring from the changes 
which occur during the process of maturation. A knowledge of its 
chemical composition may be spoken of as affording useful information 
regarding its general characters, besides revealing the existence of so- 
phistication. At the same time, however, too much stress must not be 
laid on the results furnished by chemical analysis. It is true that the 
more prominent qualities are dependent upon the extent to which the 
leading constituents exist, and this information chemistry can supply, 
but there may be differences in the character of wines of the utmost im- 
portance in relation to marketable value, and no clue to them shall be 
afforded by the figures of the analyst. The palate and the stomach form 
the true guide for settling whether a wine is choice and good. "The 
stomach," says Dr. Druitt, " is the real test-tube for wines, and if that 
quarrels with it, no chemical certificate or analysis is worth a rush." 

It would be out of place to enter minutely into the chemistry of wine, 
but something requires to be said upon the subject, and its leading con- 
stituents will be examined in the following order: Alcohol, sugar, astrin- 
gent matter, coloring matter, extractive matter, acids, ethers, and volatile 
oil. 

Although chemistry displays the existence of the above-enumerated 
principles in wine, yet in its action upon the system it may be considered 
that we have not to deal with the separate and independent effects of 
these principles, but with those of a liquid in which the ingredients are 
so amalgamated, incorporated, or blended together, as to produce a 
homogeneous whole. For example, if we look to alcohol, which consti- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 253 

tutes its most influential component, the effects of a certain amount of 
this principle, as it is contained in "wine, are not identical with those of the 
same amount diluted to an equal extent with water. The alcohol appears 
to become blended with the other ingredients, and in this state to exert 
a somewhat modified action upon the system. One of the advantages, 
and perhaps the chief, which wine derives from keeping, is probably 
attributable to this blending of its constituents. It is well known to 
acquire a uniformity of flavor by age, which stands in contrast to the 
crudeness and the mixed tastes belono-ins^ to it in a new state. Even 
made-up wine may, in the course of time, lose much of its objectionable 
nature, and become passable by acquiring an amalgamated condition. 

Alcohol. — This forms the most potent ingredient of wine, being that 
which gives to it its intoxicating properties. Besides holding the posi- 
tion named, it must also be looked upon as playing an important part in 
relation to the article itself, on account of the preservative influence it 
exerts. 

The special object attained by fermentation is the production of this 
principle, and unless extraneously added during the preparation of the 
"Nyine, its amount is dependent on that of the sugar primarily contained in the 
fermenting liquid. One atom of grape-sugar becomes resolved into two 
atoms of alcohol and two of carbonic acid (new notation). This, looking 
at the formulae of the bodies, is equivalent to saying that from 180 parts, 
by weight, of dry grape-sugar, 92 parts of alcohol are produced — in other 
words, every two parts of sugar yield about one of alcohol. 

With this information it is easy to determine what should constitute 
the range of alcoholic strength of a natural wine. For example, reckon- 
ing that grape-juice contains, in accordance with what has been previously 
mentioned, from 10 to 30 per cent, of sugar; that all the sugar undergoes 
fermentation; and that none of the alcohol is lost, an alcoholic strength 
will be given of from (about) 5 to 15 per cent, by weight, which corre- 
sponds with about 10 to 30 per cent, of j^roof spirit. Theoretically, there- 
fore, a natural wine should not contain more than 30 per cent, by weight 
of proof spirit, but, practically, it will not contain so much; for, apart 
from the whole of the suo-ar beinor- transformed solelv in the one direction, 
there must needs be a reduction of strength to some extent by the loss of 
alcohol occurring by evaporation during the process of fermentation. 

NaturaHvine, it may be stated, rarely contains more than 22 per cent. 
by volume of proof spirit. The ordinary range is from 18 to 22. The 
maximum strength allowed by the English Government for the lower rate 
of import duty is 26 per cent., and this, it may be considered, is sufficiently 
high to include all natural wines. Indeed, independently of the amount 
of saccharine matter in the juice, the extent of alcoholic strength is lim- 
ited by the action of the alcohol generated, for directly a certain quantity 
is present a check is put upon the further progress of fermentation, and 
the excess of sugar remains unfermented. Thus, although the juice may 
have been artificially sweetened by the addition of sugar, or the propor- 
tion of sugar increased by the partial desiccation of the grapes or the eva- 
poration of the juice, only a limited alcoholic strength can be acquired as 
the result of fermentation. It may further be remarked that, as the pres- 
ence of a certain quantity of alcohol puts a stop to the progress of fer- 
mentation, so does the existence of sugar beyond a certain proportion in- 
terfere with its commencement. There is a limit, in other words, to the 
strength of a saccharine liquid that can be thrown into fermentation. 

The "fortified" wines contain, upon an average, about 34 or 36 per 



254 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS, 

cent, by volume of proof spirit. These wines, which include such as port, 
sherry, Madeira, etc., reach us from the warmer wine-producing countries. 
x\fter fermentation has advanced to a certain point, spirit is added, and 
thus further change is stopped, and the wdne acquires, by virtue of its 
increased alcoholic strength, a keeping power under exposure to air which 
is not enjoyed by the unfortified product. The fortified class is allowed 
by the English customs a range of alcoholic strength of from 26 to 42 per 
cent, of proof spirit, and the maximum limit may be looked upon as fairly 
including all liquids that can justly lay claim to the title of wine. 

From what has been stated, it will be seen that the relative average 
strength of natural and fortified wines may be represented by saying that 
the former kind contains about one-fifth and the latter one-third of its 
bulk of proof spirit; or, expressing it in a more familiar way, about five 
glasses of the natural and three glasses of the fortified wine contain the 
equivalent of one glass of brandy. 

By keeping in cask, wine increases in alcoholic strength. This is to 
be accounted for by wood being more easily penetrated by water than by 
alcohol. Thus it happens that water is lost by evaporation from the out- 
side of the cask in larger quantity than the alcohol, and the wine is left in 
a more concentrated condition. 

The process for ascertaining the amount of alcohol in wine is very sim- 
ple. It consists in distilling over, say half, from a given quantity, adding 
distilled water to the product to bring it to the same measure as that of 
the wine employed, and then taking the sp. gr. From this may be learnt, 
by the tables published, the percentage of alcohol present. 

Besides the formation of alcohol, the process of fermentation is at- 
tended with the production of small amounts of glycerine and succinic 
acid. These principles thus constitute ingredients, to a small extent, of 
wine, but they cannot be regarded as of any significance. 

Sugar. — Some wines are free, or nearly free, from sugar, while others 
contain varying amounts, the condition depending upon the extent to 
which fermentation has been carried. In natural, thoroughly fermented 
wines, as claret. Burgundy, hock, etc., there may be none, or, if any, only 
an insignificant quantity. In fortified wines, on the other hand, as port, 
sherry, Madeira, etc., more or less sugar is usually found, on account of 
fermentation having been artificially checked by the added spirit before 
the process was over. As these wines are kept, however, the amount un- 
dergoes a gradual diminution from some kind of metamorphosis occurring 
other than that of fermentation. Although a fortified wine, there are 
some kinds of sherry to be met with which are free, or next to free, from 
sugar. In what are classified as sweet wines, as, for example, Tokay, 
Constantia, Malmsey, Lachryma Ohristi, Tent, Malaga, etc., the quantity 
of sugar may amount to as much as 20 per cent. Here the process of 
fermentation is impeded by the large amount of sugar originally present 
in the " must," owing to the grapes having been allowed to become to a cer- 
tain extent dried before being employed — indeed, some of these products 
possess a distinct, raisin-like flav^or. 

The natural wines which are characterized by sweetness are of low 
alcoholic strength, for in proportion as sugar is retained, so is there a 
diminished production of alcohol. Sweet and strong are therefore irre- 
concilable qualities in a natural state, and if combined imply the existence 
of added spirit. 

Whatever sugar is present ought to be found in the state of grape- 
sugar, but the analytical examination of wine sometimes displays the ex- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 255 

istence of cane-sugar. It is especially with cheap sherries that this is no- 
ticeable, and it affords unmistakable evidence of adulteration. 

Astringent matter. — The astringent matter of wine consists of tannic 
acid, an^d is derived from the skins, stones, and stalks of grapes. The 
white wines, which are prepared from the expressed juice of grapes only, 
are free from astringent matter. In the manufacture of the red wines tlic 
skins and stalks of the grapes are allowed to remain in the fermenting 
vat, and, as a consequence, astringent matter is taken up. Sometimes, also, 
a part of the astringent matter met with in wine is derived from the oak 
cask in which it has been kept. 

On account of their freedom from astringent matter, the white wines 
possess a more delicate taste than the red. In red wines the amount of 
astringent matter at the commencement maybe so great as to render them 
almost undrinkable. On keeping, however, the tannic acid becomes de- 
posited in association with albuminous and coloring matters and bitar- 
trate of potash (cream of tartar), and forms the crust which is observed 
to collect. At first the crust settles coarsely and thickly, but year by year 
the deposit becomes less and less, and at length may assume the shape of 
thin, filmy flakes, which, floating in the wine, produce what is known as 
''beeswing." With this deposition of crust the wine loses its hard taste 
and becomes soft and mellow, and according to its roughness to begin with, 
so will be the length of time required for maturing. As soon as it ceases 
to deposit it no longer improves by keeping, but commences, in fact, to 
deteriorate. By virtue of its effect in combining with and carrj'ing down 
the albuminous matter of wine, and thereby preventing any further change, 
tannic acid must be looked upon as exerting a preservative influence. 

A brown, humus-like substance, which has been named apothema by 
Berzelius, gradually undergoes formation as a product of the oxidation 
of tannic acid. This substance is not quite insoluble in wine. Enough 
is dissolved to give the yellow or tawny color belonging to port wine 
wliich has lost its other coloring- matter by aire. It is the source of the 
color which the skins of white grapes acquire in conversion into raisins. 

Coloring matter. — Much variation exists as regards the color of wines. 
Some are pale to an extent to be almost colorless, whilst others are more 
or less dee23ly colored, the color passing either through shades* of yellow 
and brown or red and blue. 

Except in the case of the teinturier grape, the juice of grapes is color- 
less, and hence, when wine is made from tlie juice alone, or with the exclu- 
sion of the husk from the fermenting vat, the product is nearly colorless, 
no matter whether white or black grapes have been employed. Full ripe- 
ness of the grape adds a little to the tint, and on this account the cham- 
pagne grape is not allowed to attain a maximum state of maturity, as 
paleness is considered a desirable quality for the wine to possess. If in 
preparing lig'it-colored wine from white grapes the skins are allow^ed to be 
present during fermentation, a deeper colored product is obtained than 
from the juice alone, and this passes through a darker shade of yellow 
toward brown as age advances, owing to the gradual oxidation of tannic 
acid, and its conversion into apothema, as already explained. It is 
further a common practice, as with dark-colored sherries, for instance, to 
artificallv color them in the followinor manner: ithe " must " obtained from 
very ripe grapes is evaporated in large pans till a deep brown sirupy liquid 
is obtained, a part of the sugar being caramelized during the process. This 
is added to the wine till the required shade of yellow or brown is pro- 
duced. Sometimes even the coloring is effected by the direct addition of 



256 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

caramel or burnt sugar, but this is liable to communicate a bitter taste, 
and thereby injure the natural flavor of the wine. Pale wines frequently 
acquire a certain amount of color through being kept in oak casks. 

The red wines derive their color from the husks of black grapes. 
These contain the coloring matter in an insoluble form, and thus the juice 
escapes being impregnated with it. Although insoluble in the fresh juice, 
it, however, undergoes solution when in contact with the fermented juice, 
the rationale being that the presence of alcohol in combination with the 
acids of the juice gives rise to the production of a liquid possessing a 
solvent power which the original aqueous liquid did not. As, then, 
alcohol becomes developed in the mixture of husks and fermenting juice, 
the coloring matter is taken up. 

The coloring matter under consideration is primarily blue, and like 
other kinds of vegetable blue is reddened by an acid. Thus it is that as 
the acidity of the grape diminishes during the process of ripening, the 
color changes from red to dark blue. In wines the color also varies ac- 
cording to the amount of free acid present. This may be exemplified by 
adding an acid to a wine possessing a bluish black color. It will be ob- 
served to become sensibly reddened. If afterward some ammonia should 
be poured in, the color will be restored. Wines presenting a decidedly 
red tint may be rendered bluish black by means of the same agent. 

It is well known that red wines become paler as their age increases. 
This arises from the coloring matter being deposited with the progress of 
formation of the crust. The astrinorent and colorinor- matters indeed 
closely follow each other. As the red color disappears, so the yellow, 
which is common to both red and white wines, becomes more visible: in 
the first place because it is less obscured, and next because it is gradually 
heightened by the conversion of tannic acid into apothema. In this way 
the production of the tawny color of old port is accounted for. 

It is stated that the teintiirier grape is specially cultivated in some 
localities for furnishino- colorino: matter to wine. It will be remembered 
that the juice of this grape is deeply stained, like that of the black cur- 
rant, elderberry, and some other fruits. Foreign agents, as black cherries, 
bilberries,. and particularly elderberries and logwood, it is also asserted, 
are frequently used for supplying color; and by their agency, white 
wines, it is further alleged, are sometimes dyed for the purpose of being 
sold as red. 

Extractive matter. — In addition to the sugar, and the astringent and 
coloring matters which have been described, there are some undefined 
solid organic principles present in wine which are classified as *^ extrac- 
tives.''^ The whole of these solid ingredients grouped together comprise 
what is understood as formiuGr the " bodv " of wine. When the amount 
of solid matter is large, it is chiefly due to the presence of sugar. 

Acids. — Wine always contains more or less free acid. The acids, 
malic and tartaric, existing in the grape exist also in its fermented juice, 
and moreover the alcoholic may be followed to some extent by the acetous 
fermentation, especially in poor %vine, and thus lead to the presence of a 
proportionate amount of acetic acid. Leaving out of consideration the 
production of this latter acid, the extent of acidity of a wine w^ill depend 
upon that of the grape from which it has been manufactured. There may 
be no perceptible acid taste when fermentation has not been fully carried 
out, on account of the sugar thereby present disguising it; but whenever 
fermentation has been completed some amount of acidity is recognizable, 
because the whole of the sugar has been converted into alcohol, and there 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 257 

is nothing to covct or conceal the acids which naturally existed to a greater 
or less extent in the grape. The taste therefore affords no criterion of 
the real acidity of a wine. A sweet wine, indeed, may contain consider- 
ably more acid than one which, through being dry, presents a certain de- 
gree of recognizable acidity. 

As might naturally be inferred from what has been stated, it is the 
wines derived from the coolest wine-producing localities, as, for instance, 
particularly the Rhine and Moselle districts, which contain the largest 
proportion of acid. Where the climate is such that the grape is apt to 
fail in attaining full ripeness, undue acidity is a common defect, and spe- 
cial measures, which are uncalled for in warmer and more congenial local- 
ities, may require to be had recourse to, to give the wine a suitable char- 
acter for drinking. Sometimes sugar is added to the wine itself to cover 
its acidity, and thereby render it palatable. Sometimes the " must " is 
diluted to reduce its percentage acidity, and then sweetened in order that 
it may yield by fermentation the requisite alcoholic strength. A wine 
manufactured in this way, whilst being provided with the ordinary amount 
of alcohol, will contain — leaving out of consideration the acids — a relative 
deficiency of the other vinous elements. Sometimes the undue acidity is 
removed by direct neutralization with the carbonate of lime or soda. A 
process ingeniously suggested by Liebig effects the separation of a portion 
of the acid by precipitation as cream of tartar. To the wine some neu- 
tral tartrate of potash is added, which combines with its free tartaric acid, 
and carries it down as the comparatively insoluble bitartrate or cream of 
tartar. 

The effect of fermentation is to some extent to lead to a reduction of 
acidity. A portion of the tartaric acid belonging to the fruit exists in 
combination with potash under the form of bitartrate. Now this salt is 
very much less soluble in an alcoholic than in an aqueous liquid. Hence 
in proportion as alcohol is present the salt becomes thrown down, and be- 
ing an acid salt a reduction of acidity is thereby effected. It collects in- 
side the cask, and is known as " argol." The deposition also proceeds 
after the wine is bottled, and helps to give rise to the sweetness and mel- 
lowness acquired by keeping. In the case of the red wines, it falls in com- 
pany with the astringent and coloring matters, and thus contributes to the 
production of the crust. In the case of white wines, it takes the form of 
colorless crystals, which may be seen adhering to the cork and lying ia 
the bottle, looking something like powdered glass. 

A great deal of unnecessary stress has been attached to the question, 
of the amount of free acid in wine in relation to the production of acidity 
of stomach. The wines containino;- the smallest amount of acid are such 
as sherry, marsala, and port; whilst hock, moselle, light claret, and some 
Greek wines may be spoken of as standing at the opposite end of the 
scale. But, because these latter contain the most acid, they are not 
thereby rightly to be shunned on the score of greater liability to produce 
acidity. Indeed, experience shows that it is not acids which particularly 
favor the production of acidity of stomach, but in reality articles contain- 
ing sugar, and especially where the sugar is in an unstable condition, as 
it is in wine, and thence more prone to undergo the acid fermentation. 
Nothing, in fact, is more productive of the trouble in question than the 
concoction which is retailed out under the name of sherry at many eating 
and drinking establishments, and which analysis shows to contain a con- 
siderable quantity of sugar. The presence of a moderate amount of acid 
does no harm; on the contrary, it may afford assistance to digestion. The 
17 



258 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

wine, however, should not be sufficiently sour to be disagreeable to the 
palate, and the kind of sourness which is to be regarded as decidedly 
objectionable is that arising from the acetous fermentation. A wine 
which has acquired sourness from such a source is no longer sound, and 
apt, if drunk, to occasion general derangement of the alimentary canal. 

Ethers and volatile oil. — These constitute the source of the special 
flavor and aroma of wine, and give to it the distinctive characters it pos- 
sesses. They doubtless contribute to produce a portion of the exhilarat- 
ing effects it exerts, for the exhilarating power of a given quantity of 
wine cannot be wholly accounted for by the alcohol it contains. The 
value of a wine is more determined by the quality and amount of these 
ingredients than by its alcoholic constituent. 

Some wines — muscat forms a striking example — possess an aroma 
which excites a reminiscence of the fresh fruit, and is in fact derived 
directly from the grape. It is probably due to an essential oil, and is in- 
creased in quantity by increasing ripeness of the fruit. Wines possess- 
ing it are called " aromatic wines." Besides this kind of aroma, which 
belongs only to the product derived from certain grapes, wine possesses 
an aroma which is peculiarly vinous, as it arises out of the results of fer- 
mentation. This becomes more pronounced as the wine ages in bottle. 
It is occasioned by the development of ethereal products, through the 
reaction of the acids and alcohol upon each other. It constitutes the 
"bouquet" of wine, and is met with in greater quantity in wine made 
from grapes which have not arrived at full ripeness; hence its predomi- 
nance in the productions of the cooler wine-growing localities, as particu- 
larly the Rhine and Moselle districts. (Enanthic ether is the name which 
has been applied by Liebig and Pelouze to the chief ethereal product be- 
longing to wine. It is obtainable only in exceedingly minute quantit}^; 
but, possessing a very strong vinous smell, a small amount goes a long 
■way. 

The flavoring of wines is carried on upon an extensive scale to suit 
the market of the country to which they are sent. Choice wines are 
reserved and added year by year to a stock which is kept expressly for 
use as a flavoring medium. Wines are also blended so as to furnish 
through successive years a product of the same flavor, strength, and ap- 
pearance, independently of the variation that may belong to different 
vintao;-es. 

Cette, Marseilles, and Bordeaux are notorious places for "doctoring" 
wine. Cette in particular bears an unenviable name on account of the 
undisguised manner in which the fabrication of wine is carried on. By 
the skill acquired in the art of imitation, an article to represent a wine 
of any character or age can be supplied to order at a few hours' notice. 

Wines are generally named after the locality producing them. In 
the description that will now be given of their respective characters, it 
will be convenient to group the products of different countries together 
under separate heads. Each country yields a wine possessing distinctive 
features of its own. The wines may be of the same character, but there 
is a flavor peculiar to each, which is readily perceptible. The product of 
one country which, as a wine, may be quite as good as or even better 
than that of another, may nevertheless be held in less repute because it 
does not conform with a conventional idea founded upon what the palate 
has been accustomed to. 

Whilst wines differ considerably in their drinkable characters, each 
should possess a clean, sound, and simple taste. It should give an idea 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 259 

of unity in contradistinction to the mixed tastes belonging to a made-uj) 
article; and there should be an absence of anything indicating change or 
fermentescibility. The impression produced upon the palate by tasting 
alternately in succession a pure and a sophisticated wine is exceedingly 
striking, and brings out strongly the mixed character of the latter, 

A good wine promotes the appetite, exhilarates the spirits, and in- 
creases the bodily vigor. It should have body or substance (which is 
different from alcoholic strength), and give rise to a sense of satisfaction 
instead of leaving a craving, empty, or hungry feeling such as is produced 
by a thin and sour drink. 

As regards their general characters, wines are spoken of as: Natural 
or light, fortified or strong, red, white, sweet or fruity, dry or thor- 
oughly fermented, full-bodied, thin, acidulous, astringent, and sparkling. 

French wines. — The natural wines of France, which formerly consti- 
tuted the principal wine consumed in England, and which from political 
considerations were for a considerable time displaced by the fortified 
wines of Portugal, have been latterly advancing into more general use 
amongst us, especially since the alteration of the import duty in 18G1. 
Clarets, Burgundies, and Champagnes are productions of France with 
which every one is acquainted. Besides these natural wines, a strong or 
fortified wine (Roussillon is an example) is produced in the south of 
France, w^hich approximates in character to the wines of Portugal. 

Clarets are derived from the Bordeaux district. They constitute red 
wines, and of the several varieties the best known are such as Lafite, 
JjCitour, XtCt Hose, Margaux, Moicton, JPauillac, St. JuUen, St. JEmUlon, 
etc. Some of the above brands bear the prefix of Chateau, this being ap- 
plied to the wine made from the vines which grow immediately around 
the chateau of the producer, in contradistinction to that derived from the 
surrounding properties. White wines are also supplied from the Bor- 
deaux district. They comprise such as Sauterne, Vln-de- Grave, J^arsac, 
and an exceedingly choice production, the CJidteaic cV Yquem. The 
clarets, or red Bordeaux wines, contain no added spirit. Their alco- 
holic strength averages from 18 to 20 per cent, of proof spirit. Being 
fully fermented, they are rendered more or less free from sugar, and con- 
stitute, therefore, dry wines. They are light, agreeable, and refreshing to 
drink, have a delicate, fragrant odor, and a slightly rough or astringent 
taste, without, in good wine, any unpleasant acidity. The white wines 
of the Bordeaux class, like white wines generally, are finer flavored, and 
have a more delicate perfume and less astringency than the red. The 
Chateau d'Yquem is a specially choice, full-flavored wine, with a particu- 
larly luscious character, due to the richness in saccharine matter of the 
grape from which it is made, acquired by being allowed to remain on the 
vine till over-ripe before being gathered. 

With the moderately exhilarating and the other properties that the 
clarets possess, they form an exceedingly valuable kind of stimulant, both 
for the healthy and the sick. There is scarcely any condition in which 
they are calculated to disagree. They form a most suitable beverage for 
persons of a gouty or rheumatic disposition, and also for the dyspeptic. 
It may be said that they are not prone to turn sour upon the stomach 
themselves, nor to cause other articles to become sour; neither do they 
provoke headache nor derangement in those who are subject to bilious 
disorders. 

3ur (J undies are derived from the southern districts of the central 
parts of France — that portion of France, it may be said, which is most 



260 A TREATISE ON FOOD AITD DIETETICS. 

propitious to the growth of the grape. As with Bordeaux wine, so with 
Burgundy, both red and white varieties are produced. Of the red, Clos 
de Vougedt, ChambertiJi, Momanee, V^ohiay, Pommard, JBeaime, and 
Macon form well-known brands; and of the white, Chahlis, Poidllyy 
Meursaidt, and 3fontrachet. 

The wines of the Rhone districts, consisting of such as Cote HotiCy 
Hermitage red and white, and J^eaiijolais (which has risen rapidly into 
notoriety as a reasonable priced wine during the last ten or twelve years), 
are generally classed with Burgundies. 

In character Burgundy is a richer, fuller-bodied, or more generous- 
wine than claret. With a choice aroma and strong wine flavor, it pos- 
sesses a trace of bitterness. To appreciate its qualities to the fullest ex- 
tent, it should be served in the middle of dinner, with the roast meat or 
game. Therapeutically, it is a valuable agent where poverty of blood or 
an ill-nourished state of the system exists. In such cases it is decidedly 
to be preferred to claret. An idea prevails that, unlike claret. Burgundy 
encourages the development of gout. This may be so with a very sump- 
tuous wine presenting an approximation to port, but there is reason to 
think that the charge is unfounded in the case of the ordinary Burgun- 
dies that are supplied for use. 

Beaujolais may be ranked as occupying a place between Burgundy 
and claret. Whilst wanting the fulness of body of the former, it is a 
rather stouter wine than the latter. 

Champagnes are the produce of several parts of France, but the most 
renowned brands are derived from the department of the Marne — Reims 
forming the centre of the district on the northern, and Epernay that on 
the southern side of the river. They are classified as sparkling and still, 
and sweet and dry, and the better qualities are distinguished by the name 
of the producer. Amongst well-known and favorite brands may be men- 
tioned those of Moederer, Pommery and Greno, Moet, Clicqiiot, Jules 
Mumm, Giesler, and Perrier Jouet. In good wines the carbonic acid is 
so incorporated with the liquid as to escape slowly, or " creamily " as it is 
termed, when the bottle is opened. 

Champagne, whilst only possessing the alcoholic strength of natural 
wines (Griffin's analysis of a sample showed 18 per cent, of proof spirit), 
is characterized in its eifects upon the system by the rapidity of its action 
as a stimulant and restorative. As it acts more rapidly and strongly, so 
its effects also pass off more quickly. It may be described as a volatile 
stimulant, with a more transitory action than other beverages of the 
alcoholic class. It is a useful wine for exciting the flagging powers in 
cases of exhaustion. It also has a tendency to allay irritability of the 
stomach, and in some cases of vomiting may be found to be retained 
when other stimulants are rejected. Unless in a good sound state, how- 
ever, there is scarcely any wine that is so calculated to upset the stomach. 
To o'ive it effervescence sus^ar is added after its introduction into the bot- 

CD O 

tie, for the purpose of inducing a second fermentation, and until this fer- 
mentation is complete the wine must be looked upon as in a state of 
change, and thereby apt to excite changes of the food within the stomach, 
which tend to interfere with the natural course of digestion. Unless the 
elements of the wine, also, are in proper relation and of proper goodness, 
it is apt to acquire ascescent and obnoxious properties, from the vinous 
passing into the acetous fermentation. 

Besides Cliampagne, France produces other sparkling wines, the most 
notable of which are sparkling Burgundies, both white and red; a spark- 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 261 

ling Hermitage; and also a wine closely resembling and often doing duty 
for Champagne, which is produced on the banks of the Rhone, and styled 
jSt. Peray. 

The south of France, in the neighborhood of the Pyrenees, is the seat 
of production of quite a different kind of wine from the varieties that have 
been referred to. The wine in question, of which JRoassiUon and 3Iasdeit 
furnish examples, belongs to the fortified class. It forms a French rep- 
resentative of the red wines of Portugal, but does not nearly come up 
to them in quality, and has something of the Burgundy or claret char- 
acter about it. It sometimes passes under the names of Burgundy Port 
and French Port. In Thudichum and Dupre's analytical table the alco- 
holic strength of Roussillon stands at 36.2 per cent, of proof spirit. 

German wines. — With the exception of what is known as Ilamhrd' 
sherry (a low-priced fortified wine of, as its name implies, a sherry-like 
nature), which is not grown, but fabricated at and shipped from Hambro', 
the German wines form natural products. They are of light alcoholic 
strength, and are characterized by their marked and peculiar aroma or 
fragrance, and their acidulous nature. These properties render them 
grateful and refreshing to drink, as well as an excitant of the appetite. 
They thus form a specially appropriate beverage at the commencement 
of dinner. On account of the northern situation of the country, and the 
variation in the climate of different years, they exhibit a wider range of 
difference in quality according to the season (a hot and dry season being 
that which is most propitious) than the products of more southern lati- 
tudes. Notwithstanding the greatest care in the process of manufacture, 
a want of brightness characterizes the wines of Germany'. Hence the 
custom of drinking them from colored glasses, the effect of which is to 
conceal from view that which might displease the eye. 

The German wines j)roduced on the banks of the Rhine generally 
pass in this country under the name of hocl:. They are mostly white, 
and the best known and most esteemed varieties are such as Johannis- 
herg, Steinberg, Mildeshehn, Marcohrunn, Hauenthaly Hockhehuy and 
Nierstein. Assmannshduser represents a red variety of hock. 

The wines produced on the banks of the Moselle agree in their gen- 
eral characters with hocks or Rhine wines, but they are somewhat more 
acid in taste, and have less body. Excellent sparkling wines are made 
both in the Rhine and Moselle districts. 

Hungarian loines. — In general character the wines of Hungary may 
be -said to resemble those of France more closely than those of any other 
country. With the exception of Tokay, which has long been prized 
amongst us as one of the choicest of wines, they were but little known 
in this country previous to the notice they received at the International 
Exhibition of 1862. Since then they have risen rapidly in public estima- 
tion, and now meet with an extensive consumption. They are good 
specimens of a light or natural wine, with a distinctive flavor of their 
own. Both red and white wines are produced, and the varieties are 
sufficiently numerous to present to the uninitiated a somewhat perplex- 
ing list of names. Of the red wines, the Carlowitz is the best known in 
England. It possesses good body, a full alcoholic strength for a natural 
wine, a slight astringency, and freedom from saccharine matter. It may 
be said, indeed, to constitute a generous wine of its class, and in this re- 
spect may be compared to Burgundy. Next to Carlowitz, Ofner, per- 
haps stands in highest estimation. The white wines are specially char- 
acterized by their softness and richness of grape flavor. The Muster and 



262 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

(Edenhurg are good and exceedingly agreeable-drinking wines. But 
Tohay far excels them all, and holds, in fact, a unique position. It is 
one of the most universally famed of wines, and always commands a price 
which places it only within reach of the wealthy. It is made of the juice 
Avhich flows spontaneously from the finest over-ripe grapes. It ranks 
amongst the sweet wines, but with its sweetness it possesses " an exceed- 
ingly rich, aromatic, mouth-filling wine-flavor" (Druitt). It is usually 
drunk as a delicacy toward the end of dinner, but may be advantageously 
recommended for rousing the powers and giving life to the enfeebled 
invalid. 

Greek wines. — These wines are less known in Eno-land than those 
which have been as yet referred to. A somewhat numerous list is pre- 
sented for selection. They constitute natural wines, with a high alco- 
holic strength for their class. The white are clean, fresh, and agreeable- 
drinking, whilst the red have fulness and roughness belonging to the 
better kinds, with some degree of tartness in the cheaper kinds. Like 
other stout wines they undergo marked improvement on being kept. 
Kephisia., St. JElle, JSToicssa, JPatras, Thera., and Santorin form represent- 
atives of dry wine, whilst ^^insanto, Lachryma Christi, and Cyprxis 
constitute Greek products of the sweet wine class. 

Italian loines. — A few wines reach this country from Italy. The red 
wines are full-colored, full-bodied, and dry, with a decided quality of 
roughness. White Cajyri, named from the rocky island standing at the 
entrance of the Bay of Naples which yields it, is an exceedingly refresh- 
ing, wholesome, and pleasant-drinking light wine, particularly for sum- 
mer use. A sparkling Asti is imported, but, probably owing to defective 
preparation, it lacks stability and brightness. Although much drunk and 
favorably thought of in Italy, it cannot compete with the other sparkling 
wines placed at our disposal in England. 

Atcstralian wiJies. — Australia promises to stand high as a wine-pro- 
ducing country, possessing the favorable conditions it does for the growth 
of the grape, and starting as it has done with the careful manufacture of 
a pure article. Both red and white wines are imported into England 
from more vineyards than one, and it may be said of the best that they 
are rich, full-bodied, agreeable-drinking wines, without hardness or 
acidity. Whilst of the nature of Bordeaux and Burgundy, they have an 
aroma v^-bich is peculiarly their own, and which gives them a character 
distinct from the products of other countries. 

Port and other whies of Portugal. — Port, like the wines of hot coun- 
tries in general, as sherry, Marsala, Madeira, and Cape, belongs to the 
fortified class. Spirit is added after fermentation has advanced to a cer- 
tain point, to check its further progress, and give the wine increased 
keeping power. Thus, a wine of an alcoholic strength averaging about 
36 per cent, of proof spirit is produced, instead of about 20, as with the 
natural or unfortified varieties. If made without being fortified, the 
produce of Portugal presents a close resemblance in character to Bur- 
gundy, but wine of this sort is not to any notable extent exported for 
the English market, on account of its alleged want of sufficient keeping 
power for transport. 

Port is a wine which possesses when new a considerable amount of 
saccharine matter, which gives it a marked fruity character. In the first 
place, the grapes, from the warm climate in which they are grown, ac- 
quire a sweetness which is not attained under exposure to a less amount 
of heat; and next, as has been mentioned, fermentation is stopped. before 



ALIMENT AKY SUBSTANCES. 263 

the suo-ar has become exhausted. The wine is also rich in astrino-ent 
and other extractive matters, and thus possesses, as it is termed, a full 
body. By keeping, the astringent in conjunction with the coloring mat- 
ter becomes gradually deposited under the form of crust. The saccha- 
rine matter also undergoes transformation, and in this way the wine loses 
its rough, sweet, and fruity taste, and acquires what is known as the 
character of dryness. There is no wine which improves more by keeping 
than port. From possessing a roughness or harshness and confusion of 
flavors which may be absolutely unpleasant to the palate, it tones down 
in the course of time to a pure, mellow, and homogeneous liquid. Not 
only are some of the objectionable elements deposited, and the others 
blended or incorporated together, but, by the reaction of the acid and 
alcoholic principles upon each other, ethereal products become developed 
which give the aroma or bouquet that forms so choice a feature belonging 
to the ripened or matured wine. 

It is a common practice amongst dealers to mix different sorts of port 
with the view of meeting the taste of the consumer, and it must be ad- 
mitted that some of the most pleasant-drinking wines are produced in 
this way. It is said to be only in certain years that a wine is good enough 
to standalone, and when so allowed to remain it is called a "vintag-e 
wine. 

Port stands pre-eminent amongst wines as a full, rich, and strength- 
giving stimulant. It is of great service in enfeebled states of the system, 
and particularly during convalescence from fever and other debilitating 
diseases. Its astringency gives it a special value where there is also diar- 
rhoea to control. For everyday use, while suiting many, it is far too heavy 
for others. By dyspeptics, the gouty, persons suffering from attacks of 
bilious or sick headache, and those passing urinary red sand it should, as 
a rule, be shunned. Drunk in excess it tends to induce a plethoric state, 
and there can be little doubt that not only is it an excitant of gouty at- 
tacks where the gouty disposition exists, but that the gouty habit may 
be developed through its influence. It seems to be the presence of im- 
perfectly fermented matter in association with the spirit — and the same 
holds good with regard to other alcoholic beverages — that gives it its per- 
nicious properties in relation to gout. 

Port, some years back, was largely consumed amongst the upper classes 
as an after-dinner wine. At the present time its place may be said to be 
taken by claret, and, whatever the cause, it is now rare in society to 
come across men who admit that port agrees with them. If not drunk so 
much, however, amongst the upper classes, there has been no falling off in 
its consumption in England; and this, because it now finds its way into 
the houses of small tradesmen, and others, where formerly it was unknown. 

A limited quantity of white wine reaches us from Portugal. JBucellas 
is a white Portuguese dinner wine, which, a short time since, met with a 
somewhat extensive consumption, but is now seldom heard of. XilshoUy 
also, is a white wine derived from Portugal. IVhite port is likewise to be 
obtained, but is not often come across. 

Sherry and other Sjxinish wines. — Under the generic name of sherry 
are included the ordinary Avhite wines of Spain. The heat, dryness, and 
equality of the climate give advantages which render Spain a most suc- 
cessful wine-producing country. Sherry has long held a high position in 
public estimation as a wholesome and clean-drinking wine. Like the 
other products of hot countries it is subjected to the addition of spirit, 
and its alcoholic strength is about the same as that of port. Unbrandied. 



264: A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

sheny is often advertised, but tlie wine in an unfortified state is only ex- 
ceptionalh' imported into England and consumed. 

Several kinds of sherry are met with, varying in color, body, and taste. 
There are the pale, golden, and brown; and some are thin and dry, whilst 
others are full-bodied and rich. Naturally, the wine is pale, but to suit 
the market, color and body are given by the addition of " must " (grape 
juice) which has been evaporated down until it has assumed the condition 
of a thick and dark-colored syrupy liquid. This, as may be inferred, not 
onh^ adds to its color and fulness, but also modifies its taste. 

Certain sherries are characterized by distinct names, as, for instance, 
Ajnontillado, l^ino di Pasto, JIo)itlUa, and ManzaiiiUa. These are all 
dry wines, and are often found free or almost free from saccharine mat- 
ter. Genuine Amontillado has a choice dry, nutty flavor, and Manzanilla 
a decided bitterness. 

A pure and dr}^ sherry may be said to constitute one of the most 
wholesome liquids for general use of the fermented class. It is devoid of 
astringenc}^, and has not the strengtli-giving properties of port, but forms 
a wine that may be drunk when other wines disagree. There are some 
dyspeptics who complain of its producing acidity, but, as a rule, it is 
borne well, alike b}^ those who suffer from dyspepsia and gout. A pure 
dry wine, however, must be selected for consumption. 

The product known as Hamhro^ sherry is a made-up article. Ham- 
buroj- is not a wine-o-rowinof but a wine-fabricatins' locality. Much of the 
cheap sherry sold, and a great portion of that supplied at refreshment- 
rooms and public-houses, is derived from this source. It is this which 
often brings sherry into disrepute by occasioning acidity, headache, and 
other symptoms of gastric derangement; and on account of the term 
Hambro' having acquired a character of reproach, the article is sometimes 
named after the river instead of the town, and thence styled ^he sherry. 

There are various sweet wines derived from Spain. J/c^/a^a is a sweet 
luscious wane of low alcoholic strength. Paxai'Ctte is another wine of an 
allied nature. JRota Toit, which is chiefly used in England for sacramen- 
tal purposes, is also a sweet wine, with a low percentage of spirit. Sack 
is a name of antiquity as applied to wine. The sack of Shakespeare is be- 
lieved to have been a Spanish wine which held the place of our sherry. 
The sack of the present day belongs to the group of sweet wines, and is 
brought chiefly from Madeira, and Palma, one of the Canarj'^ Islands. 

A considerable quantity of red wine is likewise now imported from 
Spain. It is known as Tarragoia, or Spanish port, and possesses the ad- 
vantages of being a low-priced, sound, and full-bodied wine. It may be 
spoken of as forming the best substitute for port that is furnished. 

Jlarscda. — This forms a Sicilian wine, which has attained considerable 
repute, and is largely consumed in this country. It is used in the same 
way as sherry, for which it constitutes a good, moderate-priced substi- 
tute. A price that will procure a good Marsala will only purchase an 
indifferent sherry, and there is much truth in the remark that for persons 
of moderate means it is far better that thev should drink a sfood Marsala 
than a bad sherry. It is rather a full-bodied wine, not so free from sac- 
charine matter as a dry sherr}^ and of about the average alcoholic 
strength of wines of the fortified class. 

3Ic(delra. — This is one of the choicest of the fortified wines. The 
amount produced can never pass beyond certain limits, on account of the 
restricted area of the island for the growth of the vine; and, latterh', 
from the severity with which the vine disease prevailed, its production 



ALIMENTAKY SUBSTANCES. 265 

had almost ceased altogether, for nothing less than rooting up the old 
plants and replacing them with new was necessitated. Time will be re- 
quired for these new plants to arrive at a state of perfection, but, from 
the accounts that are given, the yield of wine is satisfactorily increasing, 
and the island promises soon again to become a flourishing wine-produ- 
cing country. 

Madeira is characterized by the fulness of its body and the choiceness 
of its aroma. It is a wine which, like port, greatly improves by keeping, 
and its mellowness is found to be further increased by transport to a hot 
country and back. Hence the practice of shipping Madeira to the East 
Indies and back, and it is probable to the effects of the heat and agita- 
tion that the improvement is due. 

The wine known as Malmsey is supposed to have taken its name from 
Malvasia, a small island in the Archipelago. It was formerly derived 
from that and other islands, viz., Cyprus and Candia in the iirchipelago, 
as well as the peninsula of Morea. The Malmsey wine now met with 
mostly reaches us from Madeira. It is a sweet and luscious wine made 
from grapes grown under a hot sun and allowed to hang on the vines till 
partially withered. As is well known, historical report says that the 
Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV., on being condemned to die, 
and being allowed, from his position, to choose the manner of death, se- 
lected drowning in a butt of Malmsey. 

Cape or South African loines. — Formerly, when colonial were admit- 
ted at a lower duty than foreign wines, these were introduced on an exten- 
sive scale, but now that they do not enjoy this advantage they are not 
much heard of. The productions in question reach us as cheap imitations 
of port, sherry, and Madeira; but there is one Cape wine of wide renown, 
viz., Constantia, which stands upon its own merits, and ranks high in 
public estimation as a sweet or luscious wine. 

Miscellaneous Fruit and other Wines. — Wine is made not only 
from the grape, but also from the juice of various other kinds of fruit, 
and likewise from the juice of other parts of plants containing sugar. 
Orange wine, currant wine, plum wine, gooseberry wine, and many others, 
for example, are derived from fruits; whilst palm wine, maple wine, pars- 
nip wine, etc., are derived from other vegetable products. Each possesses 
distinctive characters of its own. None will bear comparison for purity 
and choiceness of flavor with the fermented liquid derived from the grape. 
It is not deemed necessary to devote space to their special consideration, 

JSIead or Metheglin is a wine prepared from honey and water. It is a 
fermented liquid of great antiquity in England, but is not much consumed 
now. It is rarely to be met with, indeed, except amongst the peasantry 
in certain localities. It is of moderate alcoholic strength, and of variable 
sweetness, according to the amount of unfermented honey remaining. By 
keeping, it improves and acquires a peculiar fragrance. 

Spirits. — Spirits are the product of distillation of fermented liquids, 
and have as their base the alcohol which is formed during the process of 
fermentation. Fermented liquids have been known from the earliest 
periods of antiquity, but it was not till the twelfth century that the 
method of obtaining spirit by distillation was discovered by Abucasis. 
As the alcohol passes over, it is accompanied by other volatile products, 
and thus the odor and flavor of the spirit vary with the source from which 
it is obtained. This applies to the product of first distillation, and ac- 



266 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

counts for the well-known difference that is noticeable in the various 
spirits, such as brandy, whiskey, rum, etc., that are supplied for use. By 
repeated distillation, or rectification as it is termed, the alcohol may be 
separated from the other principles through their difference in volatility, 
and made to lose the identity that belonged to the original spirit. It 
clings, however, very tenaciously to water, and can only be separated 
from this associate by admixture with an agent, as pearlash (carbonate of 
potash), quicklime, etc., which has a strong affinity for it, and holds it 
back whilst the alcohol distils over. It is in this way that pure or abso- 
lute alcohol is obtained, a liquid having a sp. gr. at 60° Fahr. of 0.794, 
and, therefore, being considerably lighter than water. 

Pure or absolute alcohol, which has been referred to, is only employed 
for chemical purposes. What is called rectified spirit consists of alcohol 
with 16 per cent, of water, the mixture having a sp. gr. of 0.838 at 60° 
Fahr. Proof spirit consists of an admixture of alcohol and water in nearly 
equal proportions, viz., 49 parts by weight of the former, and 51 of the 
latter, and has a sp. gr. of 0.920 at 60° Fahr. Both these latter aroused 
for making the tinctures of pharmacy. 

Proof spirit is taken in England as the Government standard for levy- 
ing the Excise and Customs duty. According to the proportion of alcohol 
and water, so will be the sp. gr., and tables have been framed showing the 
relation between the two, and thus enabling the strength of the spirit to 
be determined when the sp. gr, has been ascertained, which is usually 
done by means of an instrument called the hydrometer. With a larger 
proportion of alcohol than exists in proof spirit the sp. gr. is lowered, and 
the spirit is said to be over proof, whilst conversely with a less proportion 
it is raised, and the spirit is said to be %inder proof . From the ascertained 
sp. gr. can be learnt, with the aid of the tables supplied, how much per- 
cent, either over or tinder proof a spirit may be; and in this way, with a 
given duty per gallon for proof spirit, the charge to be levied, reckoned 
at a proportionate rate, can be calculated for spirits of any other strength. 
It is necessary, however, that the spirit under examination should consist 
only of alcohol and water; and, where any foreign matter is present, its 
separation must be effected by distillation, and the bulk of the distilled 
product raised to that of the original liquid by the requisite addition of 
distilled water, just as requires to be done for ascertaining the alcoholic 
strength of a simple fermented liquid, like wine, beer, etc. 

Spirits as they reach the consumer, whilst presenting a certain range 
of variation, may be said to be of about the strength of proof spirit, or to 
consist, in other words, of about equal parts of absolute alcohol and 
water. 

brandy. — Brandy (a corruption from the German Sranntwein, French 
Srandevin, burnt wine, or wine subjected to the influence of heat) is the 
name applied to the spirit procured from the distillation of wine. Its 
quality varies with the kind of wine from which it is obtained, and the 
care with which the process of distillation is carried out. It is chiefly 
white wine that is used, on account of its yielding a more delicate and 
agreeable flavored spirit than red. The most esteemed brandy is that 
which is made in France, and the districts of Cognac and Armagnac are 
more renowned than any others for the quality of the product. As first 
distilled, like other spirits, brandy is a colorless liquid. By keeping in 
an oak cask it acquires a pale-sherry tint from the tannic acid which it ex- 
tracts. Dark brandies are artificially colored with caramel. The flavor and 
aroma of brandy are due to the oenanthic ether and other volatile products 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 267 

belonging to wine which pass over with the alcohol and water in the pro- 
cess of distillation. As with wine, from which it is derived, the flavoring 
principles become modified and the brandy improved by keeping. Thus it 
is that old Cognac possesses a delicacy of flavor which does not belong to 
new. When first imported it is generally 1 or 2 per cent, over proof, but 
its strength decreases by storage in cask. As sold, it may be as much as 
10 or 15 or more per cent, under proof. Brande places the average 
strength of brandy at 42 per cent, by measure of absolute alcohol. 

Brandy occupies the first place in public estimation of all the ardent 
spirits. Its purity and the delicacy of its flavor give it the position that 
it holds, and render it suitable for selection in any case where, either die- 
tetically or therapeutically, a spirit is required. It is a popular remedy 
for sickness, diarrhoea, exhaustion, spasms, and for correcting indigestion, 
or stimulating the digestion of an indigestible article of food. Burnt 
brandy is often specially useful in protracted sickness, and will be some- 
times found to be retained when other articles are rejected. 

Rum. — In the West and East Indies, molasses, the skimmings from 
the sugar boilers, etc., are mixed with water, fermented, and subsequently 
submitted to distillation. The distilled product is afterward colored 
with partially burnt sugar, and constitutes rum. Rum is a spirit that im- 
proves greatly — acquiring a fine, mellow, soft flavor — by keeping. Its 
alcoholic strength is about the same as that of brandy. Jamaica rum is 
considered the best. Sliced pine-apples are sometimes placed into pun- 
cheons containing the finer qualities of rum, and the product is known as 
'pme-apple rum. 

Whisliey. — The term whiskey is stated to be a corruption of the Celtic 
word usquebaugh — water of life. The article constitutes one of the corn 
spirits, but, unlike gin, is derived from the malted grain. It is usually 
made from malted barley. The peculiar flavor which it possesses is due 
to the effect of kiln-drying upon the grain, and during this process the 
nature of the fuel employed produces its influence on the character of the 
product, the use of peat and turf fires giving the smoky aroma which is 
looked upon as a desirable product. As with brandy and rum, whiskey is 
a spirit which greatly improves by keeping, a soft and mellow taste being 
thereby communicated to it. If the flavor be not objected to, whiskey 
may be used in precisely the same way as brandy, with which it closely 
corresponds in alcoholic strength. Scotland and Ireland are the countries 
that are famed for the production of whiskey. A difference exists in the 
flavor of the products of the two countries, but when of good quality they 
may be regarded as of equal repute and utility. 

Gin^ Geneva, Hollands., or Schiedam. — The spirit comprehended un- 
der these names was originally, and, for some time, wholly, imported into 
this country from Holland. It is a corn spirit, derived chiefly from un- 
malted grain, which, after distillation, is purified by the rectifier, and sub- 
sequently flavored, principally with juniper berries. The name Geneva 
is derived from Genievre, the French for the juniper plant and berries, 
and this by corruption has been shortened into gin. When the manufac- 
ture of Geneva, or gin, was started in England, the Dutch spirit fell under 
the designation of Holland Geneva, Hollands, and Schiedam, the latter 
being derived from the export town of that name. 

In the preparation of gin the fermented liquid is distilled, as in the 
case of the other spirits, but, instead of the process being allowed to stop 
here, the distillate is subjected to rectification by re-distillation. The ob- 
ject is to obtain a perfectly pure and neutral spirit as a basis for the addition 



■268 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

of the flavoring agents. Besides common alcohol, there is a small amount 
of mnylic alcohol, or oil of potato spirit — -fuselol of the Germans — devel- 
•oped during fermentation. Possessing, as this principle does, a strong 
.acrid taste and nauseous odor, it forms a contaminating ingredient which 
it is considered advisable to get rid of. It happens to be of a less volatile 
nature than common alcohol, and hence, on redistillation the process can 
be so conducted as to leave it behind in the still. The spirituous liquid 
thus left also contains other impurities, and goes under the name of 
'^ faints.''^ To convert rectified corn-spirit into gin, it is flavored with 
juniper and various aromatics. Oil of turpentine, according to what is 
stated, is also sometimes used. As sold by the rectifier, the strength is 
about 20 per cent, under proof (it is not allowed by law to be sent out 
stronger than 17 per cent, under proof), but the retailers afterward dilute 
and generally sweeten it. Thus sweetened it becomes " cordial ^m," and 
also passes under the name of ^^ Old Tom^ 

On account of the juniper belonging to it, gin possesses diuretic 
properties to an extent not enjoyed by the other spirits. Age does not 
improve it in the same manner as it does brandy, rum, and whiskey. 

Several other spirits are in use in different parts of the world. It will suf- 
fice to mention here that arrack is the name given to the spirit obtained 
from a fermented infusion of rice, and also from toddy or palm wine^ 
that koimiisSy which has been lately extolled as useful in the treatment of 
consumption, is procured in Tartary from fermented mare's milk, and lat- 
terly also has been made in this country from cow's milk artificially sweet- 
ened; and that robur, or tea-spirit, the latest novelty in spirits, consists 
of ordinary spirit flavored with tea. With regard to this last, it may be 
said that a special value is claimed for it as a spirit by its introducer, but, 
looked at physiologically, it is composed of agents which exert antagonis- 
tic effects upon the animal system. 

Liqueurs. — Liqueurs constitute distilled spirituous liquids, sweetened 
and flavored with various fruits and aromatic substances. They are not 
much used except as stimulants at the end of dinner. Some of them are 
employed as appetizing agents. Their variety is great, but only the best 
known will be referred to here, and it will sufiice simply to mention the 
principles to which they owe their flavor. 

Cura^oa has an aromatic bitter taste which is due to orange-peel. 
Noyeaii is flavored with the kernels of the peach and apricot, sometimes 
with those of the cherry, and sometimes with bitter almonds. Maraschino 
derives its flavor from cherries. Kirschwasser also owes its properties to 
the cherry. Cherries are bruised and allowed to ferment. The stones 
are cracked and the kernels broken and used as well. Distillation is 
afterward performed. Chartreuse was originally prepared in a monastery 
bearing this name in France. In 1864 the Pope prohibited the monks 
from any longer making it for sale, and, as the recipe was not published, 
the Chartreuse which is now sold is a different liqueur from the original. 
Parfait amour contains a number of aromatics. In a recipe for it the fol- 
lowing are enumerated: lemon-peel, cinnamon, rosemary, cloves, mace, 
cardamoms, and orange-flower water. Anisette is flavored with aniseed 
and coriander. KiXramel is the principal liqueur of Russia, and consists of 
sweetened spirit flavored with cumin and caraway-seeds. Absinthe dif- 
fers from the above in being a bitter liqueur. It consists of a sweetened 
spirit flavored with wormwood, and is generally drunk diluted with water 
before a meal to stimulate digestion and excite a (lagging appetite. It is, 



ALIMENTARY SUBSTAISTCES. 269" 

perhaps, one of the most treacherous and pernicious for habitual use of 
all the liquids of the alcoholic class. JBitters are likewise used in a similar 
way, and receive their flavor from various bitter agents — most commonly 
from angostura-bark, orange-peel, or angelica-root and seeds. 



CONDIMENTS. 

Condiments consist of seasoning or flavoring agents. Without being 
strictly alimentary substances, they nevertheless play no insignificant part 
in the alimentation of man, and prove of service in more ways than one. 
Their first effect is to render food more tempting to the palate, and there- 
by increase the amount consumed. We are guided in the choice of food 
by taste and smell, and that which agreeably affects these senses excites 
the desire for eating. Condiments are employed for this special purpose, 
and thus a flagging appetite receives a stimulant. Through their aromatic 
and pungent qualities they also assist digestion, the modus operandi 
being by promoting the flow of the secretions, and increasing the muscu- 
lar activity of the alimentary canal. In some cases they may be further 
useful by serving to correct injurious properties that may belong to an 
article of food. 

Standing in the position they do, it is not considered necessary to give 
a special description of the various condiments. A somewhat extensive 
group of them exists. One, viz., salt, is simply of a saline nature. It is 
the most universally employed of all. Some, as vinegar, lemon-juice, 
pickles, and capers, owe their virtue to acidity. Others owe it to their 
pungency, as, for example, mustard, pepper, cayenne, ginger, curry, and 
horseradish. Others, again, form an aromatic group of condiments, which 
includes such as cinnamon, nutmegs, cloves, allspice, vanilla, mint, thyme, 
fennel, sage, parsley, onions, leeks, chives, shallots, garlic, and some 
others. Besides these, there are various sauces of artificial production, 
which are employed to give zest for food by their flavor. 



THE PRESEKVATION OF FOOD. 



The preservation of food has been practised from time immemorial. 
The ancient processes, however, resolved themselves into such as simply 
drying, salting, etc. Food thus preserved only imperfectly represents the 
article in the fresh state; but in the present age of progress the art has 
not been allowed to stand still, and methods are now had recourse to by 
which both animal and vegetable foods are preserved in such a way as 
to be susceptible of being kept for an indefinite period, and then being 
almost equal in quality to what they were originally. With the improve- 
ments that have taken place, a new trade has been established, which has 
rapidly grown into significance, and promises to prove of the deepest im- 
portance to the human race. Food is now being utilized that was for- 
merly wasted, because it exceeded the requirements of the district, and it 
was not known how it could be rendered available in distant parts. In 
Australia and South America, particularly, the amount of animal food, 
procurable far surpasses the wants of the inhabitants, and it has been 
the practice to sacrifice the animals for their wool, skins, fat, and bones, 
which formed exportable commodities. The processes that have been in- 
vented, now permit the meat to be preserved and to be transported in a 
fit condition for taking the place of fresh food elsewhere; and, with the 
facility of transit that exists, countries where food is scarce may be sup- 
plied from those where abundance prevails, whatever the distance inter- 
vening between the two. The art of preserving food has been brought 
to a sufficient state of perfection for this to be realized, but, at the same 
time, it must be admitted that there remains room for improvement, and, 
doubtless, with advancing experience, improvement will follow. Much 
attention, indeed, is being given to the matter, and it may be looked upon 
as forming one of the most important questions of the day. 

The object in view is to check the change which spontaneously occurs 
when food is exposed to ordinary conditions. I need not enter here into 
the theoretical considerations that have been broached regarding the pre- 
cise cause of this change, which we speak of as decomposition and putre- 
faction. Suffice it to state that there are three conditions essential to its 
occurrence. These are the presence of, 1st, warmth ; 2d, moisture; and, 3d, 
air. The exclusion of either of these conditions will prevent the occur- 
rence of decomposition, and thus we are supplied at once with three 
means of preserving food, viz., 1st, by the influence of cold; 2d, the re- 
moval of moisture, or drying; and 3d, the exclusion of air. 

There is still another principle of action that can be brought to bear, 
and this is, 4th, the influence of certain chemical agents. The effect of these 
is (whether by destroying or rendering inactive the germs contained in 
the air supposed to excite decomposition, or whatever else their modus 
operwidi) to render the article resistant to the operation of the ordi- 



THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD. 271 

nary influences. Each of these principles of action will be cursorily re- 
ferred to. 

1. Cold. — At the freezing-point molecular change is entirely checked, 
and as long as they remain in a frozen state, organic substances are 
maintained in a state of preservation for an indefinite time. In illustra- 
tion of this, it may be mentioned that the guides at Chamounix are ready 
to relate to visitors the circumstance that human remains, belonging to 
members of an Alpine party killed by an avalanche whilst making the 
ascent of Mont Blanc in 1820, were disclosed in a perfectly fresh state in 
1861 and 1863 at the foot of the Glacier des Bossons, five and one-half miles 
from the seat of the accident. Immersed in the glacier, they were grad- 
ually brought down by its continual descent to the point where they were 
discovered, which is where the glacier is progressively' melting away in 
correspondence with its advance. 

Cold is very extensively employed as a preservative agency. Ice is 
now largely used by fishmongers, and other dealers in perishable animal 
foods, to enable them to keep their stock in a fresh condition. The ice- 
chest is also considered almost a necessary appurtenance, certainly during 
the summer months, for preserving food in large establishments. In 
ocean-going passenger-steamers, meat is preserved on a large scale by in- 
troduction into an ice-room or chamber. An attempt has just been made 
to bring meat over in a frozen state from Australia. The experiment 
failed from the cold not having been properly sustained on the voyage, 
but there is no reason that the process should not be susceptible of being 
successfully carried out, so far as the act of preservation is concerned. 
The question of expense, however, will have to form an element of con- 
sideration, and experience must decide whether any serious deterioration of 
the article arises from the complete freezing that is necessary. Meat that 
has been frozen is subsequently less resistant to change than before, and 
butchers in this country take steps to avoid allowing the frost in very 
cold weather to affect the contents of their shops. 

2. Drying. — Preservation by drying is applied to both animal and vege- 
table foods. The practice is one of great antiquity, and it allows a num- 
ber of articles of ordinary consumption to be kept in a state always ready 
for use. Latterly it has been artificially applied to potatoes and other 
vegetables, as well as some fruits, and with such success that, after being 
properly soaked and cooked, they closely approach, both in appearance 
^nd taste, the fresh articles, and thus furnish a very fair substitute for 
them where circumstances do not permit them to be obtained. It does 
not answer so well for animal substances, although a quantity of food 
(both meat and fish) preserved in this way is to be met with. The dry- 
ing here leads to more or less loss of the natural flavor, and an unpleasant 
taste is apt to be generated. Under the name of charqiti, beef which has 
been cut into strips or slices, and dried, is imported from South America. 
JPeminican, which was formerly so extensively used by Arctic voyagers, 
consists of dried and pulverized meat mixed with fat. It presents a large 
.amount of nourishment in a small space. 

3. Exclusion of air. — This is the principle upon which food is now being 
extensively preserved, to some extent for home use, but chiefly for trans- 
port from one locality to another. It is imperfectly carried out in the 
•domestic operation of covering potted-meat with a layer of melted butter 
or some other kind of fat. Some articles also are preserved by immersion 
in oil. The bottled and tinned provisions represent a more perfect appli- 
cation of the process. The food is introduced into a suitable bottle or 



272 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

tin, and, after having been heated so as to drive out the air by the gener- 
ation of steam, the opening is closed and hermetically sealed in order to 
prevent any subsequent re-entrance from without. When properly per- 
formed, the efficacy of the process is such, that after the lapse of many 
years the provisions have been found in a perfectly good and sound con- 
dition. It is applied to both animal and vegetable articles of food. 

The fruit and vegetables preserved in bottles and tins permit us to 
obtain the representative of the fresh article at all seasons of the year 
and in all localities, and so closely does the preserved approach in charac- 
ter the fresh fruit or vegetable, that there is little discoverable difference 
between the two. 

Every variety of meat and soup, and also fish, lobsters, etc., are now 
to be obtained in a preserved state, and importation upon a very exten- 
sive scale has lately been carried on into this country from Australia and 
elsewhere. An important branch of trade has, indeed, sprung up during 
the last few years in this department of commerce, which is rapidly in- 
creasing, and promises ultimately to attain enormous dimensions. The 
plan of preserving that is generally adopted is described in an Australian 
journal to be as follows: 

The meat-preserving establishments are so situated as to combine, as. 
fully as may be found possible, proximity to a well-supplied cattle market, 
with facilities for the shipment of the finished product. Whenever prac- 
ticable, grazing paddocks are provided adjacent to the works, in which to 
keep the stock purchased until required for use. The animals are slaugh- 
tered, skinned, and dismembered. From the slaughter-house the meat is 
removed on tramways, or by sliding it along suspended from iron bars,, 
to the " boning-room," where the process of meat-preserving properly 
commences. Expert butchers, paid by the piece, here take the meat in 
hand, and, taught by long practice and stimulated by the desire to earn 
large wages, perform their work with surprising skill and rapidity. Their 
duty is to cut the meat from the bone and remove superfluous fat; and 
so thoroughly is the work done, that a hungry dog, it is stated, would 
have to turn over a large number of bones before it could obtain a dinner 
from the minute shreds of meat adhering to them. The meat is now 
conveyed to the kitchen, and here it is in the first place cut into suitable 
pieces for tinning, and weighed. In some establishments it is then par- 
tially cooked, generally by means of steam; in others it is put into the 
tins in a raw state, with the addition of a little salt. Usually a surplus 
allowance of a few ounces, the number varying according to the size of 
the tin, is made for the loss that occurs in cooking. Sometimes some 
rich gravy, extracted from portions of meat which are not suitable for 
tinning, is added to each tin. The tops are then soldered on, a small 
hole being left in the middle of each. This is one of the most critical 
operations in the whole process, since everything depends on the tins- 
being air-tight, and the most skilful tinsmiths are employed to perform 
it. The canisters, arranged in numbers together on a perforated tray, 
are next lowered into a bath containinsr a saturated solution of chloride 
of calcium, and there allowed to remain immersed to within an inch or 
two of their tops, at a gradually increasing temperature, until the con- 
tents are cooked, and all atmospheric air is expelled through the small 
orifice in the top. The hole is then closed M'ith solder, and the canister 
subjected to a short, thorough immersion in the heated solution, the tem- 
perature of which considerably exceeds that of boiling water. All that- 
now remains is to cool, clean, test, and paint the canisters. After re- 



THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD. 273 

moval from the heated bath they are placed in cold water, cleaned, and 
then transferred to the testing-room. This is an artificially heated room, 
in which they are allowed to remain for a period of six days. Should 
there be the slightest leak in the solder of the tin, the defect will show 
itself within this time by the bulging out of the ends, due to the genera- 
tion of gas as the result of decomposition occurring within. The canis- 
ters that stand the test are, lastly, painted, labelled, and packed for ex- 
portation. As long as their contents remain good they give signs of the 
absence of putrefactive gases by the depression of the surface caused by 
the condensation ensuing after the process of hermetically sealing. 

Meat preserved in this way sustains no loss of its nutritive capacity, 
and it possesses the pecuniary advantage of being free from bone. The 
material is there with its proper aptitude for digestion. The only objec- 
tion is, that through the heat employed to ensure its preservation it is 
brought into an over-cooked condition. It is probably impossible, in 
depending only on heat, to escape from this objection, for experiments 
on the putrefactive process show that not only is it necessary to exclude 
all air containing active germs, but the germs must be destroyed that are 
in contact with the article itself, and it requires a high temperature to 
accomplish this result. 

Milk may be preserved by the same method, but when treated in the 
ordinary state the disadvantage arises of the butter separating and not 
being afterward miscible with the liquid. To overcome this objection 
the milk is concentrated to a thickish consistence, and is also mixed with 
sugar. In this state it will keep for some time after the tin is opened. 

4. Preservation of food by tTie use of antiseptics. — There are several 
agents that are employed for this purpose. Salt is one of the most com- 
mon, and nitre is frequently associated with it. The effect of a saline, 
however, is- to depreciate the nutritive value of the article by extracting 
the soluble constituents, and by also hardening the texture, so as to ren- 
der it difficult of digestion. Syrup, alcohol, and vinegar form other 
agents in common use as preservatives. After being to some extent 
salted, certain kinds of meat and fish are often subjected to smoking. 
The empyreumatic vapor with which they become penetrated possesses a 
strong antiseptic capacity, which greatly promotes their power of keep- 
ing- 

The analysis of brine shows that the process of salting must materi- 
ally diminish the nutritive value of meat, for it is found to contain a 
large portion of the ingredients of its juice. Not only does the contrac- 
tion which ensues cause the infiltrating liquid to be driven out, but the 
liquefied salt tends further to draw out by osmosis its diffusible organic 
and saline constituents. Liebig estimates the loss of nutritive value as 
amountinsr to one-third or even one-half. Soaking: salted meat in water 
removes its saltness, but cannot, of course, restore the nutritive princi- 
ples that have been lost. 

From experience it has been learnt that salted and dried food cannot 
be used continuously for a lengthened period without impairing the 
health. The well-known effect is the development of a cachectic state 
which manifests itself under the form of what are called scorbutic affec- 
tions. 

18 



PEINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 



The physiological properties of the various alimentary principles, 
looked at individually, were considered in a former part of this work; 
they here require to be spoken of collectively in reference to the main- 
tenance of life. 

It happens that an article, viz., milk, is produced by the operations of 
nature for the special purpose of sustaining life during an early period of 
the existence of the mammalian animal. Such an article may be taken 
as affording a typical illustration of natural food. Now we find, on look- 
ing to its composition, that it contains the following alimentary prin- 
ciples: 

Nitrogenous matter (caseine principally, and in smaller quantity some 
other forms of albuminoid matter). 

Fatty matter (butter). • 

A carbohydrate (lactine). 

Inorganic matter, comprising salines and water. 

The egg, also, stands in an analogous position. As all the parts of 
the young animal are evolved from it, it must needs represent the mate- 
rial, or contain the suitable principles, for the development and growth of 
the body, and the same groups of principles are to be recognized that 
exist in milk, although in the case of one of them it is only present to a 
somewhat minute extent. 1st, nitrogenous matter is largely present, under 
the form of albumen, both in the white and 3'olk; 2d, oily matter is con- 
tained in tlie yolk; 3d, saccharine matter, a principle belonging to the 
carbohydrate group, is to be detected; but onlj', it must be mentioned, 
to a sparing extent, in which respect the composition of the egg differs 
notably from that of milk; 4th, inorganic matter, consisting of salines 
and water, completes the list, and for tlie saline matter required, that be- 
longing to the shell is drawn upon as the process of incubation proceeds. 
As Liebig has pointed out, there is an insufficiency of mineral matter in 
the soft contents of the egg for the development of the skeleton and other 
parts of the chick, but the shell forms a store of earthy matter wliich 
gradually becomes dissolved by the phosphoric acid generated through the 
oxidizing influence of the air upon the phosphorus existing amongst the 
contents of the egg. By the occurrence of this process the shell be- 
comes thinner and thinner as incubation, or development of the chick, 
advances. 

We thus see that in these products, which are specially designed in the 
economy of nature for the development and nutrition of animal beings, 
it is a combination of principles that is present. This may be therefore 
taken as suggestive that such a combination is needed, and experiments 
upon alimentation have abundantly proved it to be the case. It is not 



PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 275 

this or that alimentary principle which can be separated artificially from 
others that will suffice for sustaining life, but different principles asso- 
ciated together, just as we find them in the productions of nature. As 
objects of nature ourselves, it is the productions of nature that form our 
appropriate food. We are so framed as to depend for existence upon 
natural productions, and unless we are supplied with such a combination 
of principles as is met with in natural productions, defective nutrition 
results. 

It was formerly thought that the nitrogenous principles ought to be 
capable of sustaining life, seeing that they not only represent what is 
wanted for administering to the nutrition of the body, but through their 
carbon and h^'drogen can also contribute toward heat-production, and it 
excited surprise when it was discovered experimentally that animals 
perished of inanition, exacth'' as if they had been deprived of all food, 
when confined exclusively to these principles. Tiedemann and Gmelin 
found that geese were starved upon an abundant supply of white of egg', 
but it is especially to the researches of the Paris Gelatine Commission 
that we are indebted for a comprehensive survey of the subject. 

T^ie labors of this Commission were instigated with the view of deter- 
mining whether the gelatinous extract from bones could properly supply 
the place of meat, particularly as food for the poor. It had been asserted 
that such was the case, and the investigation was undertaken by a com- 
mission appointed by the Academy of Sciences of Paris and named the 
Gelatine Commission. After nearly ten years, it is stated, of uninter- 
rupted research, the report was sent in by Magendie in the name of the 
Commission. The question which the Commission primarily undertook 
to decide was : Whether it was 2:)0ssihle, economically, to extract from 
bones an aliment ichich alone or mixed icith other substances could take 
the place of meat • but the inquiry led on to the study of the nutritive 
properties of the alimentary principles in general. The conclusions ar- 
rived at by this Commission form simple expressions of well-ascertained 
facts, and therefore, unlilte many physiological conclusions, stand uncon- 
troverted by the experience of the thirty years which have elapsed since 
the report was drawn up.* They are of sufficient interest and importance 
to lead me to introduce them here. They run as follows : 

First. — It is not possible by any known process to extract from bones 
an aliment which, either alone or mixed with other substances, can take 
the place of meat. 

Second. — Gelatine, albumen, and fibrine, taken separately, nourish 
animals but for a very limited period, and only in a very incomplete man- 
ner. In general thev soon excite an insurmountable diss^ust, so that the 
anmials rather die than partake of them. 

Third. — These same alimentary principles, artificially reunited and ren- 
dered agreeably sapid by seasoning, are taken more readily and for a longer 
period than when in a separate state ; but they have no better ultimate 
influence on nutrition, for the animals that eat them, even in considerable 
quantities, end by dying, with all the signs of complete inanition. 

Fourth. — Muscular flesh, in which gelatine, albumen, and fibrine are 
united according to the laws of organic nature and associated with other 
matters, as fat, salts, etc., suffices, even in very small quantity, for com- 
plete and prolonged nutrition. 

* Comptes Rendus des Seances de TAcademie des Sciences, tome ISme, p. 282. 
Paris, 1841. 



276 A TREATISE OlST FOOD AISTD DIETETICS. 

Fifth. — Raw bones can do the same, but the quantity consumed in the 
twenty-four hours must be very much larger than in the case of meat. 

Sixth. — Every kind of preparation, such as decoction with water, the 
action of hydrochloric acid, and particularly the transformation into gela- 
tine, diminishes, and seems even, in certain cases, almost completely to de- 
stroy the nutritive quality of bones. 

Seventh. — The Commission, however, is unwilling at present to express 
an opinion upon the employment of gelatine associated with other ali- 
ments, in the nourishment of man. It believes that direct experiment can 
alone throw light upon this subject in a definite manner. It is activel}'' 
occupying itself with reference to the point, and the results will be made 
known in the second and last part of the report. 

JEightJi. — Gluten extracted from wheaten or maize flour satisfies by it- 
self complete and prolonged nutrition. 

Ninth. — Fats taken alone sustain life for some time, but give rise to 
an imperfect and disordered nutrition, fat accumulating in all the tissues, 
sometimes in the state of oleine and stearine, sometimes in that of almost 
pure stearine. 

Looking at the above conclusions, the one which refers to gluten 
(eighth) stands in opposition to the others. Surprise is expressed in the 
report, and it does seem surprising, that whilst other isolated alimentary 
principles failed in sustaining life, gluten should be capable of affording 
perfect nourishment for animals; nevertheless, it is stated that animals 
were kept upon it for three months without interruption, and presented 
throughout this period all the signs of excellent health. The explanation 
suggested in the report for this discordant and unexpected result is that 
the gluten employed did not form a pure alimentary principle, but re- 
tained some starch and other non-nitrogenous matter. Doubtless, also, 
there must have been mineral matter likewise present, for it would be in- 
consistent from what we now know, that life should be maintained for a 
lengthened period in the absence of this constituent of food. Under this 
view the discordancy becomes reconciled, the result observed being attribu- 
table to a mixture of substances being in reality consumed, instead of a 
single alimentary principle. 

The Paris Commission having found that gelatine taken alone failed 
to nourish animals, a Commission of the Institute of Amsterdam under- 
took to determine whether it increased the nutritive value of other ali- 
ments to which it might be added. Evidence was drawn in the same 
manner as. had been done by the Paris Commission, from experiments 
conducted upon dogs, and the conclusion arrived at was that gelatine 
was not only of no nutritive value when taken alone, but was not made 
nutritive by combination with other substances.* This conclusion, which 
places gelatine in the position of a useless agent in an alimentary point 
of view is inconsistent with the now well-established fact that the inges- 
tion of gelatine, like that of other nitrogenous principles, gives rise to an 
increase in the elimination of urea; for, as pointed out in a previous part 
of this work, with the production of urea from nitrogenous matter a hy- 
drocarbonaceous compound is left, which is evidenly susceptible of being 
turned to account as a force-producing agent in the system. 

Some results obtained by Mr. Savory, it may be remarked, have been 
interpreted and quoted as showing that nitrogenous matter, combined 
only with the appropriate saline principles, suffices for the maintenance of 

* Gazette Medicale, tome 12me, p. 176. Paris, 1844. 



PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 277 

life. Thus, in "Kirke's Physiology," seventh edition, p. 259, it is stated: 
" Contrary to the views of Liebig and Lehmann, Savory has shown that, 
while animals speedily die when confined to non-nitrogenous diet, they 
may live long when fed exclusively with nitrogenous food." Again, Dr. 
Parkes (" Hygiene," third edition, p. 160) says: " For though the dog and 
the rat (Savory) can live on fat-free meat alone, man cannot do so." 
Bischoff and Voit found that dogs could be sustained on meat deprived 
of visible fat, and maintained at their full weight with but very slight 
variation, whilst Ranke, it appears, could not maintain himself in perfect 
nutrition on meat alone. 

Now, with reference to these statements, it must be borne in mind that 
after the removal of the visible fat, flesh still contains a certain amount 
which is brouo-ht into view by analvsis. It cannot be deprived of fat be- 
yond 1 per cent., and in Savory's experiments on rats, the flesh (lean 
veal) employed was found to contain 1.55 per cent.* But, let us look 
into the particulars of the experiments, and see what they in reality 
prove. 

In the first place, 1.55 per cent, of fat in meat means rather over 6 
per cent, in the dry matter of meat, about three-fourths of fresh meat be- 
ing made up of water. 

In one experiment a couj^le of rats, which had been nearly brought to 
the ver^e of death bv restriction to starchy matter and fat, were fed with 
bread and meat for four da3'S, and then with meat alone. A week after 
commencing the meat their united weight was 9 oz. 1^ dr., and three 
weeks later 10 oz. 1 dr. Being now placed on a diet of meat, with non- 
nitrogenous food (starch and fat), a notable improvement occurred, for in 
three days' time they weighed 11 oz. ; four days later 1-1 oz. 12 drs. ; and 
a week later still, 14 oz. 4 drs. 

In another experiment two rats, weighing 12 oz. were placed on an ex- 
clusive diet of lean meat and water. They remained healthy in appear- 
ance, but steadily lost loeight, and in a QuontJi's time weighed only 8f oz. 
They were now placed on a miscellaneous diet, and in a week's time 
weighed 12^ oz. 

In a third experiment two rats, weighing together 12 oz. 7 drs., were 
kept upon the meat diet exclusively. On the thirteenth day one of the 
rats died, the weight of its body being 2 oz. 8 drs., and that of the other 
6 oz. 3 drs. The live one was still restricted to the same food, and this 
died ten days later, the weight of its body then being 5 oz. It is worthy 
of mention, as a passing remark, that two other pairs of rats which had 
been taken at the same time, one pair being fed on a non-nitrogenous diet 
and the other on a mixed diet, remained still alive. 

I have entered into these particulars because the experiments in ques- 
tion, contrary to their true effect, have been referred to as invalidating 
the accredited doctrine — that to sustain life in an efficient manner there 
must be an admixture of the nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous alimentary 
principles. Before quitting the subject it is right to state that a hawk 
was kept for two months on the same meat food, and improved, it is as- 
serted, in appearance and condition. No weights, however, are given, and 
the quantity of food consumed is not mentioned. With the 1.55 per 
cent, of fat in the fresh meat, forming rather over 6 per cent, of the dry 
material, a sufficiently notable amount of fat may have been ingested if 
the quantity of food consumed was large. It is not contended that heat 

* Lancet, vol. i., pp. 383, 412. 1863. 



278 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

or force-production generally is dependent solely upon the non-nitrogen- 
ous aliment supplied, for it is well known that the nitrogenous principles 
undergo metamorphosis into urea, and an oxidizable residue which is sus- 
ceptible of utilization in that direction; but observation tends to show 
that, for the proper maintenance of nutrition (and it must be remembered 
that fat is a necessary agent in the accomplishment of the formative pro- 
cesses), the presence of some non-nitrogenous matter at least is needed in 
the food. 

If the nitrogenous principles, from their capacity for yielding the 
requisite material for the construction and maintenance of the tissues, and 
likewise from their capacity for undergoing metamorphosis into urea and 
a hydrocarbonaceous product susceptible of appropriation to force-pro- 
duction, might appear theoretically sufficient, so far as organic matter 
is concerned, for the support of life, such even cannot be said with re- 
spect to the non-nitrogenous principles. These could not possibly be 
expected to suffice for maintaining life, as an element is missing which is 
wanted for the formation of the tissues. Experimental proof, however, 
has been adduced upon the point. Fat formed one of the articles sub- 
jected to investigation by the Gelatine Commission, and its inability to sup- 
port life is shown amongst the conclusions that were arrived at. Boussin- 
gault also fed a duck on butter only, and found that it died at the end of 
three weeks of starvation. Butter, it is said, exuded from all parts of the 
body, and the feathers seemed as if they had been soaked in melted butter. 

Sugar, gum, and starch were submitted to experiment by Magendie on 
dogs, and Tiedemann and Gmelin on geese; the animals became emaciated 
and more and more feeble, till they perished of inanition. Like experi- 
ments have since also been performed by others, and corresponding re- 
sults obtained. 

When fat is combined with other non-nitrogenous matter, emaciation 
is still one of the phenomena observed. In Mr. Savory's experiments on 
rats * fed on equal parts by weight of arrow-root, sago, tapioca, lard, and 
suet — a mixture found to contain only .22 per cent, of nitrogen — the ani- 
mals underwent emaciation and died of inanition, fat having disappeared 
from the body, as occurs under complete privation of food. Notwithstanding 
this absence of fat from the body, the fur of the animals was observed to 
have presented a decidedly greasy appearance, just as though fat exuded 
from the skin, in correspondence with what Boussingault noticed in his 
experiment where a duck was fed exclusively on butter. 

It may be inferred that nitrogenous matter is required not only for 
the formation of the tissues, but likewise for contributing, by the pro- 
motion of the requisite change, to the utilization of the non-nitrogenous 
principles, and, unless it exist in suitable amount in the food, these prin- 
ciples fail to pass on to their proper destination. It is known that the 
carbohydrates contribute to the formation and accumulation of fat; but, 
for this to take place, the concurrence of a due amount of nitrogenous 
matter is required. Boussingault's experiments on pigs showed that 
whilst potatoes alone did not suffice for fattening the animals, they grew 
fat with the addition of nitrogenous matter; and the presence of fat also 
in the food seems in some manner or other likewise to promote the trans- 
formation of the carbohydrates. Boussingault also found that the cow 
was insufficiently nourished on potatoes and beet-root alone, although 
given in very large quantity. 

♦ Lancet, vol. i., pp. 383 and 413. 1863. 



PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 2?9 

The question as to whether non-nitrogenous matter should enter into 
the composition of food has been sufficiently discussed already, but an- 
other question presents itself: Are both fats and carbo-hydrates neces- 
sary ? If we look to the diets of different nations we almost invariably 
find that both these principles are represented. Still it is evident that 
fat alone will suffice for yielding the non-nitrogenous matter required for 
the support of life, for we find in certain parts of the globe that there are 
large numbers of persons who subsist, and maintain themselves in good 
health, exclusively on animal food, in which fat forms the only represen- 
tative of non-nitrogenous matter. As to whether, however, the carbo- 
hydrates can similarly supply what is wanted, forms a question that is 
not so summarily to be disposed of. It is true there are some articles 
of vegetable food which are capable of sustaining life, and which, whilst 
freely containing a carbohydrate, contain a comparatively insignificant 
quantity of fat; but the presence of fat, as has been already mentioned, 
appears to be of service in promoting the metamorphosis of the carbo- 
hydrates in the system. It also exerts a favorable influence over the 
assimilation of nitrogenous matter and the processes of tissue formation 
and nutrition; and it may be said that there is strong reason to believe 
that the association of a certain amount of fatty matter with the carbo- 
hydrates is probably necessary for the maintenance of the organism in 
perfect health. The belief is further entertained that its deficiency is 
sometimes the source of the development of the tuberculous diathesis. 

Inorganic matter, under the form of saline materials and water, is 
equally as essential for satisfying the requirements of life as the organic 
components of food. Although such saline materials and water do not 
appear to be individually concerned in the interplay of changes which 
form the source of the phenomena of life, they nev^ertheless enter as es- 
sential elements into the constitution of the textures and fluids of the 
body, and thus must needs be supplied, to an adequate extent to meet 
the requirements of nutrition and secretion, with the food from with- 
out. 

Such form the principles that are required as components of food for 
the maintenance of the body in a healthy condition. But as yet I have 
only referred to the nature of the principles, and not to their amount. 
As regards the inorganic portion of food, it may simply be said that 
enough of the several principles encountered in the body must be sup- 
plied to meet the wants of nutrition and secretion. The organic portion, 
however, cannot be so summarily disposed of, and the question first 
arises: What relative proportion of nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous 
principles is best adapted for administering to the requirements of 
life? 

It may be fairly concluded that the requirements as regards food vary 
with exposure to different conditions. According to the expenditure 
that is taking place, so, in a good scheme of dieting, should materials be 
supplied which are best calculated to yield what is wanted. Under ex- 
posure to hard labor and inactivity, and to a high and low external tem- 
perature, the consumption of material in the system differs, and the sup- 
ply of food should be regulated accordingly. Notwithstanding the tenor 
of recent experiments as to mechanical or muscular work being obtain- 
able from the oxidation of non-nitrogenous matter, general experience is 
to the effect that for the maintenance of a good condition nitrogenous 



280 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

matter is required in larger quantity under greater exertion than during 
a state of rest. The inhabitants of the colder regions also require to be 
more perfectly supplied with combustible matter than persons inhabiting 
warmer climates. 

The laws of nature are such as to conduce to an adaptation of the sup- 
ply of food to its demand. We are all conversant with the fact that ex- 
ercise and exposure to cold — conditions which increase the demand for 
food — sharpen the appetite, and thus lead to a larger quantity of mate- 
rial being consumed; whilst, conversely, a state of inactivity and a warm 
climate tell in an opposite manner, and reduce the inclination for food. 
A badly fed laborer is capable of performing but a slight day's work, 
and a starving man falls an easy victim to the effects of exposure to 
cold. 

Not only is there thus a correspondence between the amount of food 
required and the inclination for taking it, but, probably arising from the 
teachings of experience, we find the nature of the food selected in differ- 
ent countries to vary, and to constitute that which is most in conformity 
with what is needed. 

For example, the dwellers in the arctic regions, besides consuming an 
enormous — even prodigious — quantity of food, partake of that kind which 
abounds in the mxost efficient form of heat-generating material, viz., oleagi- 
nous matter. It is from the bodies of seals and whales, and such like 
sources, that the food of the extreme northerners is obtained. It is true 
the coldness of the climate will not permit the production and supply of 
the carbohydrates by vegetable growth, as occurs in low latitudes; but, 
if it did, they could hardly be consumed in sufficient quantity to yield the 
requisite amount of heat. 

Sir Anthony Carlisle relates an anecdote from his experience amongst 
the arctic inhabitants: "The most northern races of mankind," he says, 
" were found to be unacquainted with the taste of sweets, and their in- 
fants made wry faces and sputtered out sugar with disgust; but the 
little urchins grinned with ecstasy at the sight of a bit of whale's blub- 
ber." 

In the tropics, on the other hand, it is especially upon vegetable pro- 
ducts — products largely charged with principles belonging to the carbo- 
hydrate group instead of fat — that the native inhabitants subsist. The 
succulent fruits and vegetables, says Liebig, on which the natives of the 
south prefer to feed, do not in the fresh state contain more than 12 per 
cent, of carbon. The blubber and train oil, on the other hand, which 
enter largely into the diet of the extreme northerner, contain, he remarks, 
from 66 to 80 per cent, of carbon. 

For a temperate climate reason would suggest something between the 
two extremes as yielding the most suitable form of food, and custom, we 
find, has led to the selection of a mixed diet, which furnishes the combina- 
tion of the two kinds of heat-producing principles. 

It is, then, upon the principle of adaptiveness to the particular re- 
quirement existing that the diet should be made to conform. The per- 
formance of work was until recently believed, in accordance with Liebig's 
teachings, to have its source in the metamorphosis of nitrogenous matter. 
It was considered that muscular and nervous action resulted from an oxi- 
dation of muscular and nervous tissue, and that, according to the extent 
of action occurring, so was a supply of the nitrogenous alimentary prin- 
ciples demanded to replace the oxidized material. This gave to nitrogen- 
ous matter a special position in relation to the manifestation of nervo- 



PEII^CIPLES OF DIETETICS. 



281 



muscular activity, and Liebig" measured the working value of food by the 
amount of what he styled the plastic elements of nutrition it contained. 
The following table was framed by him to show, upon this principle, the 
relative workino- value of various articles of food in common use. To brins: 
the comparison to uniformity, the non-nitrogenous matter is all reckoned 
as starch. The relative value of fat and starch for heat-producing purposes 
may be reckoned from the amount of oxygen respectively required for the 
complete oxidation of the product, and it is found to stand in the ratio of 
1 to 2.4. Thus, by a simple process of calculation, fat, when this form of 
non-nitrogenous matter exists in a given article of food, is easily reduced 
into its heat-producing equivalent of starch. 



Liebig's Tabular B^epresentation of the Relative Nutritive Value of 

Various Articles of Food, 

Non-nitrogenou3 
Plastic nitrogenous calorifacient 

Veal, 

Hare's flesh, . 

Beef, 

Beans, . 

Peas, 

Fat mutton, , 

Fat pork, 

Cow's milk, 

Woman's milk, 

Wheaten flour, 

Oatmeal, 

Rye, 

Barley, . 

Potatoes, 

Rice, 

It has been previously shown in this work that there is now strong 
reason to believe that, in opposition to Liebig's view, the non-nitrogenous 
elements of food contribute, as well as the nitrogenous, to the production 
of muscular force, and, with this before us, nitrogenous matter ceases to 
hold the special value as a source of working power that was, till quite 
recentlv, assisrned to it. 

It was throuorh the extension of the doctrine of the conservation of 
energy (which implies that force is readily transmutable from one form 
into another, but, like matter, not susceptible of being created from noth- 
ing, nor of being destroyed) to living bodies, combined with the results 
obtained by Fick and AVislicenus in their ascent of the Faulhorn {vide p. 
45), that physiologists were led to entertain the view that is now held. 
Fick and Wislicenus proved that the oxidation of their muscular tissue, 
as measured bv the amount of nitrogen voided with the urine, sufficed 
only for the production of a small proportion of the force expended in the 
accomplishment of the measured work performed. The only conclusion 
they could arrive at, therefore, was that muscular power originated from 
the oxidation of non-nitrogenous matter, of which their food exclusively 
consisted for a short time before and during the period of the ascent. 



itter. 


matter reckoned 




as starch. 


10 


1 


10 


2 


10 


17 


10 


22 


10 


23 


10 


27 


10 


30 


10 


30 


10 


40 


10 


46 


10 


50 


10 


57 


10 


57 


10 


86 to 115 


10 


123 



282 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Experiments have since been performed by other observers, with corro- 
borative results, and it may now be looked upon as a settled point that 
non-nitrogenous alimentary matter contributes, in a manner not before 
suspected, to muscular force-production. 

As a sequel to this deduction, Professor Frankland * undertook the 
experimental determination of the force-producing value of various articles 
in common use as food. His results represent the actual force evolved 
by complete oxidation, under the form of heat, measured by means of 
the calorimeter. Now, heat and mechanical work are not only mutually 
convertible, but bear a fixed quantitative relation to each other. A cer- 
tain amount of heat, in other words, is transformable into a definite 
amount of motive power capable of performing a fixed and ascertainable 
amount of mechanical work. Thus, by calculation, the value of a given 
article of food is easily represented in working power. It is in this way 
that the measure of w^orking power has been deduced. Professor Frank- 
land's table will be found annexed. In it the Continental weights and 
measures are employed. f The unit of heat is the amount of heat which 
will raise the temperature of 1 gramme (15.432 grains) of water 1° Cent. 
(1.8° Fahr.). A kilogrammetre of force is the representative of the power 
required to lift 1 kilogramme (2.2046 pounds avoirdupois) 1 metre (3.2808 
feet) high. The value of the various articles mentioned in the list in 
units of heat is the result of direct observation, whilst that in kilogram- 
metres of force is obtained by calculation upon the basis of Mr. Joule's 
estimate, which represents the heat that will raise the temperature of 1 
kilogramme of water 1° Cent, as equivalent to the mechanical power re- 
quired to lift 1 kilogramme 423^ metres high, or, what is the same thing, 
4:23^ kilogrammes 1 metre high. 

*Philos. Mag., vol. xxxii.. 1866. 

f Expressed in English weights and measures it is the foot-pound, or the power re- 
quired to lift one pound one foot high, which forms the unit of work, and 772 foot- 
pounds represent, according to Mr. Joule's estimate, the dynamic equivalent of 1° 
Fahr. — that is, the heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water 1° 
Fahr. constitutes the equivalent of the power required to lift one pound 772 feet high. 
Kilogrammetres are convertible into foot-pounds by multiplying by 7.232; one kilo- 
gramme (2.2040 pounds avoirdupois) raised one metre (3.2808 feet) high equalling one 
pound raised 7.232 feet high. 



PEINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 



283 



Force-producing Value of 0?ie Gramme (15.432 Grains) of Various 

Articles of Food (Frankland). 



Name of Food. 



Cod-liver oil, 

Beef fat, 

Batter, 

Cocoa-nibs, 

Cheese (Cheshire), . 

Isinglass, 

Bread-crust, 

Oatmeal, 

Flour, 

Pea-meal, 

Arrow-root, 

Ground rice, 

Yolk of egg, . . . . . 
Lump sugar, . . . . 
Grape-sugar fcommercial), 
Hard-boiled egg, 
Bread-crumb, . . . 
Lean ham (boiled), . 

Mackerel, 

Beef (lean), 

Veal (lean), 

Guinness's stout. 

Potatoes, 

Whiting, 

Bass's ale (alcohol reckoned) 
White of egg, .... 

Milk, 

Apples, 

Carrots, 

Cabbage, 



Per cent, of 
water present, 



24.0 



47.0 



62.3 
44.0 
54.4 

70.5 
70.5 
70.9 
88.4 
73.0 
80.0 
88.4 
86.3 
87.0 
82.0 
86.0 
88.5 



FOKCE-PKODUCING VALUE. 



In units of 
heat. 



9,107 

9,069 

7,264 

6,873 

4,647 

4,520 

4,459 

4,004 

3,936 

3,936 

3,912 

3,813 

3,423 

3,348 

3,277 

2,383 

2,231 

1,980 

1,789 

1,567 

1,314 

1,076 

1,013 

904 

775 

671 

662 

660 

527 

434 



In kilogrammetres of force. 



When burnt 
in oxygen. 



3,857 

3,841 

3,077 

2,911 

1,969 

1,914 

l,8f^8 

1,696 

1,669 

1,667 

1,657 

1,615 

1,449 

1,418 

1,388 

1,009 

945 

839 

758 

664 

556 

455 

429 

383 

328 

284 

280 

280 

223 

184 



When 
oxidized in 
the body. 



3,857 
3,841 
3,077 
2,902 
1,846 
1,550 

1,665 

1,627 

1,598 

1,657 

1,591 

1,400 

1,418 

1,388 

966 

910 

711 

683 

604 

496 

455 

422 

335 

328 

244 

266 

273 

220 

178 



In the foregoing- table it will be seen that the working value is not 
the same where nitrogenous matter has to be dealt with, when oxidized 
in the bodv, as when burnt in oxv^en. This arises from the occurrence of 
complete oxidation in the one case, and not in the other. Whilst with 
non-nitrogenous matters complete oxidation of the elements occurs with- 
in the body, as when burnt without, it is not so with nitrogenous matters. 
These in the system are only partially consumed, the nitrogen escaping 
under the form of urea, and carrying off a portion of the carbon and hy- 
drogen in an imperfectly oxidized condition. This final product of animal 
consumption, therefore, possesses a certain amount of unexpended force 
(at least one-seventh of that originally belonging to the material), where- 
as the final products of burning in oxygen — consisting of free nitrogen, 
carbonic acid, and water — represent fully exhausted principles. It is of 



284 



A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



course assumed, in speaking of the force-producing value of articles con- 
sumed in the body, that this only refers to the material that is actually 
digested and utilized, which certainly as a rule is far from comprising the 
whole that is consumed as food. 

Taking the force-value as given above, and reckoning, in accordance 
with Helmholz' calculation, that the animal system is capable of turning 
one-fifth of the actual energy developed by the oxidation of the food to 
account as external work, Professor Frankland has determined the w^'eight 
and cost of various alimentary articles that would be required to raise the 
body-weight of a person of 10 stone, or 140 lbs., to a height of 10,000 
feet. 



Weight and Cost of Yarious Articles of Food that looidd Require to he 
Consumed in the System to Haise the Body of a Person 'Weighing 10 
Stone, or 140 Lbs., to a Height o/ 10,000 Feet (Frankland). 



Name of Food. 



Cod-liver oil, . . . , 

Beef fat, 

Butter, 

Cocoa-nibs, 

Cheshire cheese, 

Oatmeal, 

Arrow-root, 

Flour, 

Pea-meal, 

Ground rice, . . . . 

Isinglass, 

Lump sugar, . . . . 
Commercial grape-sugar, . 
Hard-boiled eggs, . 

Bread, 

Lean ham (boiled), 

Mackerel, 

Lean beef, 

Lean veal, 

Potatoes, 

Whiting, 

Apples, 

Milk, 

"White of eQgy . . . . 

Carrots, 

Cabbage, 

Gninness's stout (bottled), 
Bass's pale ale (bottled), . 



Weight in pounds L . 
required. 



0.553 
0.555 
0.693 
0.735 
1.156 
1.281 
1.287 
1.311 
1.335 
1.341 
1.377 
1.505 
L537 
2.209 
2.345 
3.001 
3.124 
3.532 
4.300 
5.068 
6.369 
7.815 
8.021 
8.745 
9.685 
12.020 

6f bottles. 

9 bottles. 



At price 


per pound. 


s. 

3 


d. 
6 





10 


1 


6 


1 


6 





10 




1 


2f 








2f 
3J 
4 


16 








6 







3^ 

2 


1 


6 





8 


1 





1 








1 


1 


4 


li 

5c?. per quart 

6 






1 


lOd. per bottle 
lOd 



Cost. 



s. d. 

1 Hi 

5i 

1 Oi 

1 n 

llil- 

si 

1 3^ 
3f 
4^ 
5i 

22 Oi 

9 

5i 

1 2i 
4| 
4 6 

2 1 

3 6i 

4 3i 
5i 
9 4 
111 
1 
4 
1 
1 
5 
7 



3i 
4i 
2^ 
Oi 
7i 
6 



Looked at in the manner above represented, muscular work, like heat, 
in opposition to Liebig's theory, is derivable from the oxidation of non- 
nitrogenous as well as nitrogenous matter, and Professor Frankhmd's 
tables sliow that .55 lbs. of fatty matter will furnish the same amount of 
power as is obtainable from 1.3 lb. of flour, 1.5 lb. of sugar, 3.5 lbs. of 
lean beef, and 5 lbs. of potatoes. Traube even inverted the proposition 



PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 285 

of Liebig, and asserted, in the most decided manner, that the substances 
by the oxidation of which force is generated in the muscles are not the 
albuminous constituents of the tissue, but non-nitrogenous principles, 
viz., either fats or carbohydrates. 

Accordinor to the foreo-oinor table, wherein is mentioned the cost of 
the various articles of food required to be consumed to accomplish a given 
amount of work, it appears, viewing these articles purely in their capa- 
city as force-producing agents by oxidation, that the same amount of 
work is obtainable from oatmeal costing o^d. ; flour, 3f d. ; bread, 4f d. ; 
and beef fat, 5^d. ; as from beef costing 3s. 6^d., and isinglass, £1 2s. 

Taking all the facts at present revealed into consideration, we appear 
to be warranted in adopting the following terms of expression. It is in 
the first place admitted on all hands that food is the source from which 
muscular power is derived, and hence the supply of food should be in 
proportion to the amount of work that is performed. It was formerly 
thouo-ht that food must be converted into muscular tissue before it could 
be available for the performance of work which involved the origin of 
work from nitrogenous alimentary matter. The effect of recent investi- 
gation, however, is to show that it is not to an oxidation of muscular tis- 
sue that we are to look for the force produced. The muscles appear to 
stand in the position of instruments for effecting the conversion of the 
chemical energy evolved by the oxidation of combustible matter into 
working power. Fats and carbohydrates can furnish the combustible 
matter required, and, under ordinary circumstances, probably do largely, 
if not chiefly, supply it. Nitrogenous matter can do so likewise, but it 
has to undergo a preparatory metamorphosis for effecting the sej^aration 
of nitrogen in a suitable form for elimination. 

As pointed out in a previous part of this work {vide p. 41 et sc(2.)y it 
is under the form of urea that the nitroiren of digested and absorbed 
nitrogenous matter mainly escapes. This body consists, besides nitro- 
gen, of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and the amount of oxygen is such 
as to leave a portion of the carbon and hydrogen in a combustible or 
oxidizable condition. In the escape of urea, therefore, there is a loss or 
waste of a portion of the force-producing power of the original nitrogen- 
ous principle, and, taking dry nitrogenous matter, as nearly as possible 
one-third passes off as urea. The remaining two-thirds form the avail- 
able portion for force-production. But this residuary portion is made up 
in part of oxygen, and it is only in reality 50 per cent, of the original 
nitrogenous matter that consists of carbon and hydrogen in an oxidizable 
condition. Thus it is that, for force-production, nitrogenous matter is of 
less value than the fats and carbohydrates. 

Observation shows that the results of experience fully accord with the 
teachino's of science. In the case of navvies and other hard-workino: 
men the appetite is known by the employer to form a measure of capacity 
for work. A falling off of the appetite means, that is to say, a dimin- 
ished capacity for the performance of work. A farmer, where wages 
were good, when asked, " how it was that he paid his laborers so well '? " 
replied, " that he could not afford to pay them less, for he found tl:at 
less wages produced less work." Indeed, one might just as reasonably 
expect that a fire would burn briskly with a scanty supply of fuel, or a 
steam-engine work with a deficient supply of coal, as that a man could 
labor upon a meagre diet. Men have also learned, where arduous work 
has to be performed, and similarly in cold climates where a large amount 



286 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

of heat has to be produced — for the demand is the same in the two cases 
— that the requirements are best met by a liberal consumption of fatty 
matter, which is the most efficient kind of force-producing material, with 
the food. The fat bacon relished and eaten with his bread by a hard- 
working laborer yields, at a minimum cost, the force he forms the medium 
for producing. 

As thus considered, the non-nitrogenous alimentary princij)les appear 
to possess a higher dietetic value than the nitrogenous, and when re- 
garded solely in relation to capacity for force-production, there is no 
doubt they in reality do so. But there is a further point to be looked at. 
The physical development and maintenance of the body must be likewise 
taken into account, and for this it is nitrogenous alimentary matter only 
that can supply what is needed. Wherever vital operations are going 
on, there exists nitrogenous matter. It is, indeed, through the instru- 
mentality of nitrogenous matter that the operations of life occur. The 
tissues which form the instrument of living action require to be con- 
structed in the first instance; and next, to be constantly renovated, to 
compensate for the loss by deterioration which is continually going on. 
Thus, a demand for nitrogenous alimentary matter is created quite apart 
from direct contribution to force-production; and, further, not only is 
nitrogenous matter required for the construction and repair of the tissues, 
but likewise to form a constituent of the secretions, for all secretions 
which possess active properties owe them to the presence of a nitrogen- 
ous principle. Here, then, is an additional demand for nitrogenous mat- 
ter, and it is to be remarked that as increased work leads to an increased 
development of the tissues employed, and thereby an increased appropria- 
tion of nitrogenous matter, so it calls for an increased production of 
secretions in consequence of the larger amount of food that has to be 
prepared for consumption. In this way, theoretically, without contribu- 
ting in a direct manner to force-production, the performance of w^ork 
may be looked upon as necessitating a proportionate supply of nitrogen- 
ous alimentary matter. 

Practically, it is found that hard work is best performed under a 
liberal supply of nitrogen-containing food. The reason probably is that 
it leads to a better nourished condition of the muscles and of the body 
generally. Under the use of animal food, which is characterized by its 
richness in nitrogenous matter, the muscles, it is affirmed, are observed 
to be firmer and richer in solid constituents than under subsistence upon 
food of a veo;etable nature. What meat is to man, corn, which of all 
vegetable fodder contains the albummates in the largest proportion, is 
to the horse. Highly bred horses require richly nitrogenous food. The 
Arab, says Bonders, never lets his horse eat grass and hay to satiety. 
Its chief food is barley, and in the wilderness it gets milk, and if great 
effort is required, even camel's flesh. The horses which in Sahara are 
used for hunting ostriches are kept nearly exclusively on camel's milk 
and dried beans. In the case of our horses, too, he continues, it is well 
known that to do heavy work they require more than grass and hay. 
Corn is necessary to give strength and activity. Coaclimen know that 
"the oats must be in them." In order to perform hard work, horses 
must have, not watery, but firm muscles, and the food which serves best, 
— viz., the more richly nitrogenous — to produce such muscles, is after- 
ward necessary to maintain their condition. As albuminous food pro- 
duces firm muscles, so exercise makes them red. To sum up, science 
intimates that a liberal supply of nitrogenous matter is necessary to pro- 



PKIl^CIPLES OF DIETETICS. 2S7 

duce and maintain muscles in a good condition for work, and the result 
of experience is to confirm it. 

I have been speaking of food considered in relation to the perform- 
ance of work, but it would be unphilosophical to look at it only in this 
light. The question should be viewed under a broader aspect, and the 
point really for the physiologist to discuss is under what combination of 
alimentary principles the higliest state of development, both mental and 
physical, is attainable. If regarded as living for the mere performance 
of work, and looked at economically, man, it may be said, would bear an 
unfavorable comparison with a machine set in motion by steam. Mechan- 
ical work is under no form so costly as under that produced by muscular 
agency, and particularly by that of man. It has been calculated, it is 
true, (vide p. 5), that whilst, through the medium of the animal sj'stem, 
one-fifth of the power stored up in the food consumed is realizable as 
external mechanical work, the amount realizable from fuel is onlv one- 
tenth in the case of even the best constructed steam-engine, the remain- 
der being dissipated or lost as heat. Thus far the animal machine is 
more economical of its force than the machine of artificial construction; 
but, on the other hand, the fuel (food) consumed in the former is very 
much more costly than that consumed in the latter. From this considera- 
tion human labor can never compete in economy with steam, and hence, 
as suggested by Donders, the worst use to make of a man is to employ 
him exclusively in mechanical work — a proposition which harmonizes 
with the increasino^ introduction of machinerv in our advancino* ag'e of 
civilization. Letheby,* on the subject of the comparative costliness of 
food and fuel, says, " taking a steam-engine of one horse-power (that is, 
a power of raising 33,000 lbs. a foot high per minute) it will require two 
horses in reality to do the same work for ten hours a day, or twenty-four 
men; and the cost would be lOd. for the steam-engine, 8s. 4:d. for the 
two horses, and just £2 sterling for the twenty-four men." 

From what has preceded we may conclude that, with a supply of ni- 
trogenous matter sufficient for the thorough development and subsequent 
maintenance of the body in good condition, the best materials for the 
production of working power, as well as heat, are the non -nitrogenous 
principles, and that of these the fats are more elective than the others. 

Tables have been given of the relative amounts of the different ali- 
mentary principles requisite for the proper support of life, such tables 
having been framed either by ascertaining through observation the mini- 
mum upon which the body can be maintained in a healthy state, or by 
stopping the supplies from without and estimating the consumption of 
material occurring in the system from the outgoings found by examina- 
tion to take place. The latter method must be discarded as fallacious. 
Existence under an absence of food fails to represent the natural state, 
and the outgoings fall short of their ordinary amount: a portion being 
naturally derivable from food-metamorphosis, as well as from the con- 
sumption of material by oxidation for life-manifestation. 

The table given by Moleschott is generally accepted as furnishing a 
' fair representation of a standard or model diet — that is, a diet containing 
the requisite combination of alimentary principles for just maintaining 
health in a person of average height and weight, under exposure to a 
temperate climate and a moderate amount of muscular work. It is as 
follows: 

* Cantor Lectures " On Food," 1870, p. 109. 



2SS 



A TREATISE OX FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Alimentary jSubstances i?i a Drxj State Bequired Daih/ for the Sup- 
port of an Ordinary Working Man of Average Height and Weight 
(Moleschott). 



Dry food. 


In oz. avoir. 


In grains. 


In grammes. 


Albuminous matter, 

Fatty matter, 

Carbohydrates, 

Salts, 


4.587 

2.964 

14.250 

1.058 


2,006 

1,296 

6,234 

462 


130 

84 

404 

30 


Total, 


22.859 


9,998 


648 



Thus, about 23 oz. form the quantity of dry, solid matter contained in 
this standard diet, and a fifth of it is composed of nitrogenous matter. 
If wd reckon that our ordinary food contains, say 50 per cent, of water, 
these 23 oz. will correspond to 46 oz. of solid food in the condition in 
which it is consumed. To complete the alimentary ingesta, a further 
quantity of from 50 oz. to 80 oz. of water may be put down as taken, 
under some form or other, daily. 

The dynamic or force-producing value of this daily standard diet 
amounts to 3,960 foot-tons.* 

It must be distinctly understood that the above quantities are to b^- 
looked upon as yielding what is necessary for the support of life under 
medium conditions. The amount of material consumed in the body, and 
therefore the food required to compensate for the loss occurring, varies 
with the external temperature and the work performed. In speaking of 
a standard diet, the expression must not, therefore, be taken for more 
than it is really worth. It would be as absurd to look upon a certain diet 
as adjusted to the requirements of every particular case as to assign to a 
certain amount of coal the capacity, when consumed in a grate, of main- 

* For calculating- the dynamic value the experimental determinations of Frank- 
land are used. These, as has been previously explained, were obtained by ascertaining 
with the calorimeter how much heat is evolved during the oxidation of a given quan- 
tity of a substance subjected to examination. The measured heat is then transformed 
into its equivalent of working power ; and represented in kilogi-ammetres. or force 
required to raise a kilogramme one metre high {vide, p. 282). The following are the 
figures given for the undermentioned alimentarj' articles which have been taken as 
representing the three groups of organic alimentary principles. 

Force 'produced by the Oxidation of One Gramme (15.433 Orains) as consumed within the 

Body. 

In kilogrammetres. 

Albumen (purified), 1,805 

Fat (beef fat), 8,841 

Starch (arrow-root), 1,657 

Kilogrammetres are convertible into foot-tons (tons lifted one foot high) by mul- 
tiplying by GO. 32285. Below are given the figures representing the foot-ton value of an 
ounce. 

Force produced by the Oxidation of One Ounce (437.5 Grains) as consumed within the 

Body. 

In foot-tons. 

Albumen (purified), 165.20 

Fat (beef fat), 351.50 

Starch (arrow-root), • • • ,151.66 



PEINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 289 

taining a room at a given degree of heat under varying states of external 
temperature; or, when consumed in a furnace, of enabling a locomotive 
to propel a train irrespective of its weight over a given number of miles. 

Men are led by instinct to adjust the quantity of food consumed to 
the particular requirements existing, and it is well known that the appe- 
tite is sharpened by exposure to cold and under the performance of labor^ 
and lessened by warmth and habits of inactivity. 

Travellers have dilated on the large amount of food consumed by the 
inhabitants of cold as compared with that consumed by those of temper- 
ate and hot climates. Accounts are given which almost appear incredible 
regarding the enormous quantities of food devoured by dwellers in the 
arctic regions. Thus, Sir John Ross * states that an Esquimaux " per- 
haps eats twenty pounds of flesh and oil daily." Sir W. Parry, f as a 
matter of curiosity, one day tried how much food an Esquimaux lad, 
scarcelv full sTown, would consume if allowed his full tether. The food 
was weighed, and, besides fluids, he got through in twenty hours, 8|- lbs. 
of flesh and If lb, of bread and bread-dust, and " did not consider the 
quantity extraordinary." Sir George Simpson, J from his travelling expe- 
rience in Siberia, says: "In one highly important particular the Yakuti 
may safely challenge all the rest of the world. They are the best eaters 
on the face of the earth." Having heard more on this subject than he 
could bring himself to believe, he resolved to test the matter by the evi- 
dence of his own senses. He procured a couple of men who had, he 
states, a tolerable reputation in that way, and prepared a dinner for them 
consisting of 36 lbs. avoirdupois of beef and 18 lbs. of butter for each of 
them. By the end of an hour they had got through»half of their allowance 
in Sir George Simpson's presence. Their stomachs at this time projected 
" into a brace of kettledrums." They were then left in charge of deputies, 
and Sir George was assured, on returning two hours later, that all had been 
consumed. He remarks that, after such surfeits, the gluttons remain for 
three or four days in a state of stupor, neither eating nor drinking, and 
meanwhile are rolled about, with a view to the promotion of digestion. 

It is right to state that the arctic regions do not stand alone in af- 
fording examples of great excess in eating. Illustrations, for instance, 
have also been given of the performance of equally prodigious feats of 
gluttony by the inhabitants of other regions of the globe. The Hotten- 
tots and Bosjesmans of Southern x\frica, where food is not really re-' 
quired to the same extent as in northern localities, are conspicuous, ac- 
cording to the records of travellers, for their gormandizing propensities. 
"The Hottentots," says Barrow,§ "are the greatest gluttons upon the 
face of the earth. Ten of our Hottentots ate a middling-sized ox, all but 
the two hind legs, in three days." Regarding the Bosjesmans, he says, 
** The three who accompanied us to our wagons had a sheep given to 
them about five in the evening, which was entirely consumed by them- 
before the noon of the following day. They continued, however, to eat 
all night, without sleep and without intermission, till they had finished 
the whole animal. After this their lank bellies were distended to such a 
degree that they looked less like human creatures than before." 

* Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passag-e, p. 448. Lon- 
don, 1835. 

t Second Voyage for the Discovery of the North-West Passage, p. 413. London, 1834. 

X Narrative of a Journey Round the World during the Years 1841 and 1842, vol. ii., 
p. 309. London, 1847. 

§ Account of Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa. 1801. 
19 



290 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Apart from the evidence afforded by the above extraordinary revelations, 
the bodily experience of those engaged in arctic travelling is sufficient to 
display the necessity of a large consumption of food to enable resistance 
to be offered to the effects of exposure to cold. " He who is well fed," 
remarks Sir John Ross,* " resists cold better than the man who is stinted, 
while the starvation from cold follows but too soon a starvation in food. 
. . . . In every expedition or voyage to a polar region," he f urther^b- 
serves: "at least if a winter residence is contemplated, the quantity of 
food should be increased, be that as inconvenient as it may. It would 
be very desirable, indeed, if the men could acquire the taste for Green- 
land food, since all experience has shown that the large use of oil and fat 
meats is the true secret of life in these frozen countries." Sir John 
Franklin f also states: ''During the whole of our march we experienced 
that no quantity of clothing could keep us warm while we fasted; but on 
those occasions on which we were enabled to go to bed with full stomachs 
we passed the night in a warm and comfortable manner." 

Turning now to the adjustment of food to the performance of work, 
it is mentioned by Liebig J that the English navvies who were sent out 
during the Crimean war to make the Balaclava railroad consumed daily 
from 150 (5.291 oz.) to 159 (5.608 oz.) grammes of albuminate, and that 
the men in the Munich breweries, where the work is heavy, consume on 
an average 165 grammes (5.820 oz.) per diem, whilst the amount entering 
into the rations of the Bavarian and English soldier, in time of peace, is 
about 126 grammes (4.444 oz.). 

Dr. Playfair § has collected and grouped the dietaries of persons en- 
gaged in various ways. His arrangement shows that there is in prac- 
tice a correspondence between the amount of work performed and of food 
consumed. The dictates of experience are seen to be in harmony with 
the suggestions of science. In order to give a representation of the rel- 
ative value of different dietaries the amounts of the nutritive principles 
require to be ascertained and set forth. This is the only way by which 
dissimilar diets can be brought to uniformity so as to allow of anything 
like an exact comparison being made. 

]^^ow, to ascertain the amounts of the alimentary principles contained 
in a given dietary, or to fix its dietetic value, the composition of the con- 
stltuant articles requires to be known. Tables have been given by differ- 
ent authorities representing the composition of the various articles of food. 
No two tables, however, will be found exactly to agree. The composition, 
in fact, of an alimentary substance is in no case fixed and invariable. It 
is not surprising, therefore, that the results furnished by different analysts 
should vary. Taking, however, the figures of an established chemical 
authority as a basis of calculation, sufficient reliance may be placed upon 
the estimate yielded. It is true the amounts of nutritive principles worked 
out must not be looked upon as representative of anything like absolute 
precision; still they may be regarded as sufficiently near for all practical 
purposes. The following table is drawn from Dr. Liebig's work,|| with a 
few additions selected from a table compiled by Dr. Parkes.^ 

* Op. cit. 

f Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Tears 1819 to 
1822, p. 424. London, 1823. 
X Lancet, vol i., p. 5. 1809. 

I On the Food of Man in Relation to his Useful Work. Lecture delivered at the 
Royal Society, Edinburgh, and Royal Institution, London, April, 1865. 

II On Food, Cantor Lectures, 1st ed., p. 6. 1870. 
1 Practical Hygiene, 3d ed., p. 165. 



PEINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 



291 



Table Showing the Percentage Composition of Various Articles of 

Food. 

(From a table furnished by Letheby, with additions marked thus (a) from one fur- 
nished by Parkes.) 



Bread, 

Biscuit, (a) 

Wheat flour, 

Barley meal, 

Oatmeal, 

Eye meal, 

Indian corn meal, 

Rice, 

Peas, 

Arrow-root, 

Potatoes, 

Carrots, 

Parsnips, 

Turnips, 

* Cabbage, 

Sugar, 

Treacle, 

New milk, 

Cream, 

Skim milk, 

Buttermilk, 

Cheese,(«) 

Cheddar cheese, ....... 

Skim cheese, 

Lean beef, 

Fat beef, 

Lean mutton, 

Fat mutton, 

Veal, 

Fat pork, 

Green bacon, 

Dried bacon, 

Ox liver, 

Tripe, 

t Cooked meat, roast, no dripping] 
being lost. Boiled assumed to >- 
be the same, (a) ) 

Poultry, 

White fish, 

Eels, 

Salmon, 

Entire Q^^,^ 

White of Q^,^^ 

Yolk of egg, 

Butter and fats, 

Beer and porter, 



Salts. 




*The nitrogenous matter in Dr. Parkes* table is put down as 0.2, but 2.0 is evi- 
dently meant 

f Eanke's analysis. 



292 A TREATISE 01^ FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Playfair's dietaries, to -whicli reference has been made, will now be 
introduced. The food is brought into its equivalent in nutritive principles. 
I have calculated and appended to each the dynamic, or force-producino* 
value according to the determinations of Frankland. The dynamic value 
must not be taken for more than it is really worth. It is scarcely neces- 
sary to state that the proper distinction must be kept in view between 
dynamic and nutritive value. 

Suhsisteiice diet. — This is drawn from certain prison dietaries; the diet 
of needlewomen in London; the common dietary for convalescents in the 
Edinburgh Infirmary; and the average diet during the cotton famine in 
Lancashire in 1862. The mean of these several dietaries gives a daily 
allowance of — 

Ounces. 

Nitrogenous matter, 2.33 

Fat, 0.84 

Carbohydrates, ....... 11.69 

Dynamic value * of daily allowance 2,453 foot-tons. 

Diet of adult in full health, with moderate exercise. — The dietaries cf 
the English, French, Prussian, and Austrian soldiers during peace are 
taken as the basis of this class. The mean of these dietaries stauds as fol- 
lows: 

Ounces. 
Nitrogenous matter, ...... 4.215 

Fat, 1.397 

Carbohydrates, 18.690 

Mineral matter, ....... 0.714 

Dynamic value, 4,021 foot-tons. 

Diet of active laborers. — To represent this class Dr. Playfair has placed 
together the dietaries of soldiers engaged in the arduous duties of war, 
viz., those of the English during the Crimean and Kaffir wars; the French 
during the Crimean war; the Prussians during the Schleswig war; the 
Austrians during the Italian war; the Russians during the Crimean war; 
the Dutch during the Belgian war; and those of the Federal and Con- 
federate armies in the American war of 1860-65. The mean of the above 
gives the following quantities: 

Ounces. 
Nitrogenous matter, . . . . . .5.41 

Fat, 2.41 

Carbohydrates, ....... 17.92 

Mineral matter, ....... 0.68 

Dynamic value, 4,458 foot-tons. 

In addition to the group just furnished. Dr. Playfair points to the die- 
taries of the Royal Engineers during peace, as affording a representation 
of the amount of food required by laboring men performing a fair, but not 

♦ Vide note, p. 288. 



PEINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 293 

an excessive, amount of work during the twenty-four hours. In this 
branch of the miUtary service, he says, the men while in the depot at 
Chatham are actively occupied either in constructing field-works, or in 
pursuing their avocations as artisans, from which class of people they are 
selected. The actual amount of food consumed by 495 men belonging to 
different companies was carefully ascertained for twelve consecutive days 
and reduced to its dietetic value. The mean of all the returns came out 
as follows: 

Ounces. 
Nitrogenous matter, . . . . . . 5.08 

Fat, • . . . ... ... 2.91 

Carbohydrates, ....... 22.22 

Mineral matter, . . . . ... .0.93 

Dynamic value, 5,232 foot-tons. 

Diet of hard-icorJcing laborers. — Dr. Playfair remarks that we do not 
possess many well-recorded examples of ordinary laborers' diets contain- 
ing precise information as regards amounts. In those" included in his 
table, however, the actual weight of food consumed was determined. They 
comprise the dietary of the English navvy engaged in the Crimea, and in the 
construction of the Rouen railway; of hard- worked weavers; of fully fed 
tailors; and of blacksmiths. With these are grouped the dietaries of the 
English and French sailor, and the mean given stands as follows; 

Ounces. 
Nitrogenous matter, . . , . . .5.64 

Fat, 2.34 

Carbohydrates, 20.41 

Dynamic value, 4,849 foot-tons. 

In the first and last of these dietaries nothing, it will be observed, is 
said of mineral matter. Reckoning, however, that an average amount is 
here supplied, the lowest of the foregoing series of dietaries will comprise 
between 15 and 16 oz. of dry food, and the highest a little over 31 oz. 
The amount of nitrogenous matter present stands in a varying proportion 
of from about the one-fifth to the one-sixth and a half of the whole. 

The English soldier on home service, says Dr. Parkes, receives from 
Government one pound of bread and three-quarters of a pound of meat, 
and buys additional bread, vegetables, milk, and groceries. The nutritive 
value of his usual food is represented by Dr. Parkes to be as follows: 

Ounces. 

Nitrogenous matter, 3.86 

Fat, 1.30 

Carbohydrates, 17.35 

Mineral matter, . . . . . . . 0.808 

The supply of carbon in this diet, as calculated by Dr. Parkes, is 4,718 
grains, and of nitrogen only 266 grains per diem. 

The dynamic value, calculated in the same manner as in the case of the 
preceding dietaries, amounts to 3,726 foot-tons. 



294 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

By Dr. Playfair * the nutritive value of the English soldier's diet is 
given as somewhat higher, thus: 

Ounces. 
Nitrogenous matter, , . - . . , . 4.250 
Fat, .......... 1.665 

Carbohydrates, ....... 18.541 

Mineral matter, 0.789 

Dynamic value, 4,099 foot-tons. 

According to Dr. Playfair f also, the nutritive value of the English 
sailor's fresh meat diet stands as follows; 

Ounces. 
Nitrogenous matter, ...... 5.00 

J; at, .....,,.,, /i.Ot 

Carbohydrates, ........ 14.39 

Dynamic value, 3,911 foot-tons. 

Workhouse dietaries, although applied to large numbers of people, 
and followed with scrupulous attention to weight and measure, fail to af- 
ford information of the kind required for advancing our position with 
reference to the point under consideration. They are framed particularly 
for the maintenance of the aged, the infirm, the sick, and the young. 
There are but few able-bodied people as inmates of these establishments, 
and the diet for this particular class is, perhaps, often fixed below what 
would be needed for a permanency, so that no encouragement may be of- 
fered to a prolonged stay being made. Moreover, although model dietaries 
are issued by the Local Government Board, the local authorities have the 
power to frame dietaries of their own, and provided they are considered 
to furnish sufficient food, sanction to their adoption is given. Thus it 
happens that in point of detail great diversity prevails within the different 
establishments throughout the country. 

For the various county and borough jails the same liberty exists as 
in the cases of workhouses. Dietaries have been recommended by the 
Home Office for different classes of prisoners according to the duration 
of sentence, and to whether it is with or without hard labor, but it is left 
to the discretion of the county authorities to adopt them or to frame 
others of their own. The result is, that some have conformed whilst a 
larger number have not, and thus, again, there is much diversity to deal 
with. For long sentences the dietaries must necessarily be adequate to 
meet the requirements of life, but for short sentences the punishment of 
confinement is increased by a scanty allowance of food. For instance, in 
the recommendations from the Home Office, the daily allowance for pris- 
oners sentenced for less than seven days without hard labor consists of 1 
pound of bread and 2 pints of oatmeal gruel, made with 2 ounces oatmeal 
to the pint; and for over seven days and under twenty-one, of 1^ pounds 
of bread and 2 pints of gruel. The nutritive value of the first-named 
diet stands thus — 1.800 ounces of nitrogenous matter, .480 ounces of fat, 
and 10.712 ounces of carbohydrates; and of the second — 2.448 ounces of 
nitrogenous matter, .608 ounces of fat, and 14.792 ounces of carbohy- 
drates. For longer terms potatoes and meat are also allowed. 

* On the Food of Man in Relation to his Useful Work, p. 11. Edin., 1865. . 
t Op. cit., p. 18. 



PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 295 

In the Government convict * establishments the prisoners are all under 
long sentence, and uniformity is carried out in classes arranged according 
to occupation. This constitutes a rational principle of dieting. The 
health of the prisoners must be maintained, and the diet is such as has 
been found by experience to suffice for this end. On the other hand, 
upon the score of economy, and likewise that no unnecessary bodily com- 
fort may be supplied, the food is reduced to as short an allowance as is . 
found to be compatible with the preservation of health. These dietaries, 
therefore, should afford us illustrations of just the requisite quantity of 
food for supporting life under the performance of different amounts of 
labor. For these reasons I will introduce here the dietaries at the present 
time in use; and, for the purpose of comparison, give their calculated 
nutritive value founded on the composition of food according to the table 
furnished at p. 291. 

The cocoa supplied consists of prepared cocoa, which is contracted 
for as such. It doubtless, like other forms of prepared cocoa, contains a 
certain admixture of starchy, or starchy and saccharine matter. I have 
taken the average of Hassall's results of the examination of various sam- 
ples of prepared cocoa, and reckoned that it contains about 35 per cent. 
of carbohydrates in combination with the pure article, the composition 
of which is assumed to be in accordance with the analysis given by 
Pay en. 

The nutritive value of the meat is calculated from the analysis of 
cooked meat given by Parkes. The composition of cheese is also taken 
from the analysis furnished by Dr. Parkes, which represents a medium 
quality. 

The shins are made into soup, and I have assumed that the whole of 
the animal matter is extracted from the bones. It was ascertained for 
me that the shins actually supplied consist upon an average of 59.57 per 
cent, of meat and 40.43 per cent, of bone. The meat is reckoned in ac- 
cordance with the composition of lean beef (vide table, p. 291). As re- 
gards the bone, I found by observation that a fore and hind shin taken 
together and deprived of meat lost 15.29 per cent, of water upon being 
dried by exposure to heat until they ceased to lose weight. The dry 
bone is reckoned as consistino^ of one-third animal matter and two-thirds 
earthy, and the animal matter is calculated as of the same value as lean 
meat. 

In the absence of a record of the analysis of onions they have been 
assumed to be of the same nutritive value as turnips — an assumption 
which, even if not precisely correct, cannot materially influence the cal- 
culated result. 

* With convicts sentenced to hard labor the hours of labor, I notice, are made to 
vary in the summer and winter, being 10 hours 40 minutes per diem in the former, and 
8 hours 55 minutes in the latter. Whether this arrangement has been designed in re- 
lation to food or for some other reason of prison management I do not know, but it 
stands in harmony with what is rational in a physiological point of view. Both the 
work performed and the heat produced must be represented by an equivalent of food, 
and under the arrangement before us the food which corresponds to the extra amount 
of labor demanded of the convicts in the summer, is free for appropriation to the produc- 
tion of the extra amount of heat necessitated in the winter. If the food were exactly 
adjusted to the requirements in the summer it would be insufficient for the accom- 
plishment of the same amount of labor during the winter. To provide for the produc- 
tion of the extra amount of heat required in the winter there muse be either an in- 
crease in the amount of food or a diminution in the amount of labor. The latter course 
in prison management is observed to be pursued. 



296 



A TREATISE ON FOOD Al^B DIETETICS. 



Sard-labor Diet. 
(Daily period of labor — summer, 10 hrs. 40 min.; wiuter, 8 hrs. 55 min.) 



Weekly allowance. 


Nitrogenous 
matter. 


Carbo- 
hydrates. 


Fat. 


Mineral 
- matter. 


Total solid 
matter. 




Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Gocoa, .... 


3.500 


0.560 


1.540 


1.295 


0.105 


3.500 


Oatmeal, . 






14.000 


1.764 


8.932 


0.784 


0.420 


11.900 


Milk, . . . 






14.000 


0.574 


0.728 


0.546 


0.112 


1.960 


Molasses, 






7.000 


— 


5.390 


— 


— 


5.390 


Salt, . . 






3.500 


— 


— 


— . 


3.500 


3.500 


Barley, 






2.000 


0.126 


1.486 


0.048 


0.040 


1.700 


Bread, 






168.000 


13.608 


85.680 


2.688 


3.864 


105.840 


Cheese, . 






4.000 


1.340 


— 


0.972 


0.216 


2.528 


Flour, 






8.625 


0.931 


6.081 


0.172 


0.147 


7.331 


Meat (cooked, with- j 














out bone or gra- V 


15.000 


4.140 


— 


2.318 


0.442 


6.900 


vy), . . . . j 














Shins (made into ) 
soup), . . . j 


16.000 


3.376 


— 


0.640 


4.144 


8.160 


Suet, . 






1.500 


— 


— 


1.244 


0.030 


1.274 


Carrots, . 






2.000 


0.026 


0.290 


0.004 


0.020 


0.340 


Onions, . 






3.500 


0.042 


0.252 


— 


0.021 


0.315 


Turnips, . 






2.000 


0.024 


0.144 


— 


0.012 


0.180 


Potatoes, 






96.000 


2.016 


21.120 


0.192 


0.672 


24.000 


Total weekly allow 


ance, . 


28.527 


131.643 


10.903 


13.745 


184.818 



Light-UCbor Diet. 
(Labor consists of oakum-picking, etc.) 



Weekly allowance. 


Nitrogenous 
matter. 


Carbo- 
hydrates. 


Tat. 


Mineral 
matter. 


Total solid 
matter. 




Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Cocoa, .... 


3.500 


0.560 


1.540 


1.295 


0.105 


3.500 


Oatmeal, . 








14.000 


1.764 


8.932 


0.784 


0.420 


11.900 


Milk, . . 








14.000 


0.574 


0.728 


0.546 


0.112 


1.960 


Molasses, 








7.000 


— 


5.390 


— 


— 


5.390 


Salt, . . 








3.500 


— 


— 


— 


3.500 


3.500 


Barley, 








2.000 


0.126 


1.486 


0.048 


0.040 


1.700 


Bread, 








145.000 


11.745 


73.950 


2.320 


3.335 


91.350 


Cheese, 








4.000 


1.340 


— 


0.972 


0.216 


2.528 


Flour, . 








4.625 


0.499 


3.261 


0.092 


0.079 


3.931 


Meat (cooked, with- \ 














out bone or gra- J- 


12.000 


3.312 


— 


1.854 


0.354 


5.520 


^vy), . . .. . ) 














Shins (made into ) 
soup), ... 1 


12.000 


2.532 


_ 


0.480 


3.108 


6.120 














Suet, . 








0.750 


— 


— 


0.622 


0.015 


0.637 


Carrots, 








2.000 


0.026 


0.290 


0.004 


0.020 


0.340 


Onions, 








3.500 


0.042 


0.252 


— 


0.021 


0.315 


Turnips, 








2.000 


0.024 


0.144 


— 


0.012 


0.180 


Potatoes, 








96.000 


2.016 


21.120 


0.192 


0.672 


24.000 


Total weekly allow 


ance, . 


24.560 


117.093 


9.209 


12.009 


162.871 



PKINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 



297 



Industrial Employment Diet. 









[Employment as 


5 tailors, shoemakers, 


weavers, etc.) 




Weekly allowance. 

- 


Nitrogenous 
matter. 


Carbo- 
hydrates. 


Fat. 


Mineral 
matter. 


Total solid 
matter. 




Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Oz. 


Cocoa, .... 


3.500 


0.560 


1.540 


1.295 


0.105 


3.500 


Oatmeal, 








14.000 


1.764 


8.932 


0.784 


0.420 


11.900 


Milk, . 








28.000 


1.148 


1.456 


1.092 


0.224 


3.920 


Molasses, 








7.000 


— 


5.390 


— 


— 


5.390 


Salt, . 








3.500 


— 


— 


— 


3.500 


3.500 


Barley, 








1.000 


0.063 


0.743 


0.024 


0.020 


0.850 


Bread, 








148.000 


11.988 


75.480 


2.368 


3.404 


93.240 


Cheese, 








4.000 


1.340 


— 


0.972 


0.216 


2.528 


Flour, . 








8.625 


0.931 


6.081 


0.172 


0.147 


7.331 


Meat (cooked, with- J 
out bone or gra- v 


16.000 


4.416 


_ 


2.472 


0.472 


7.360 


vy), . . - . j 

Shins (made into ) 
soup), . . .\ 
Suet, 


8.000 
1.500 


1.688 





0.320 
1.244 


2.072 
0.030 


4.080 
1.274 


Carrots, . 








1.000 


0.013 


0.145 


0.002 


0.010 


0.170 


Onions, 








3.000 


0.036 


0.216 


— 


0.018 


0.270 


Turnips, . 








1.000 


0.012 


0.072 


— 


0.006 


0.090 


Potatoes, . 






• 


96.000 


2.016 


21.120 


0.192 


0.672 


24.000 


Total weekly allowance, . 


25.975 


121.175 


10.937 


11.316 


169.403 



Penal Diet, 

(For offenders against the pri.=!on laws. May be continued for three months. Also 
used every fourth day in the place of punishment diet where punishment diet is 
ordered for more than three days.) 



MyaUowance. ^'SS?" 


Carbo- 
hydrates. 


Fat 


Mineral 
matter. 


Total solid 
matter. 


Bread, .... 
Oatmeal, . . . ". 

Milk, 

Potatoes, .... 


Oz. 

20.000 

8.000 

20.000 

16.000 


Oz. 

1.620 
1.008 
0.820 
0.336 


Oz. 
10.200 

5.104 
1.040 
3.520 


Oz. 

0.320 
0.448 
0.780 
0.032 


Oz. 

0.460 
0.240 
0.160 
0.112 


Oz. 
12.600 

6.800 
2.800 
4.000 


Total daily allowance. 


3.784 


19.864 


1.580 


0.972 


26.200 



Dunishm,ent Diet. 
(Bread and water diet for the punishment of prisoners.) 



Daily allowance. 


Nitrogenous 
matter. 


Carbo- 
hydrates. 


Fat. 


Mineral 
matter. 


Total solid 
matter. 


Bread, .... 


Oz. 

16.000 


Oz. 

1.296 


Oz. 
8.160 


Oz. 

0.256 


Oz. 

0.368 


Oz. 

10.080 



298 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



Representing the nutritive value of these diets in the same manner as 
that previously adopted, they come out as follows: 



Haed Labor Diet, per diem. 

Nitrogenous matter, ..... 

■f atj ••••.••. 

Carbohydrates, ...... 

Mineral matter, ...... 

Dynamic value, 4,072 foot-tons. 



Ounces. 

4.075 

1.557 

18.806 

1.963 



Light Labor Diet, per diem. 

Nitrogenous matter, ..... 
J? at, .•••.... 
Carbohydrates, ,,.... 
Mineral matter, . . . . , . 
Dynamic value, 3,577 foot-tonsl 



Ounces. 
3.508 
1.315 
16.727 
L715 



Industrial Employment Diet, per diem. 

Nitrogenous matter, ...... 

Fat, 

Carbohydrates, ....... 

Mineral matter, ....... 

Dynamic value, 3,787 foot-tons. 



Ounces. 
3.710 
1.562 
17.310 
L616 



Penal Diet, per diem.. 

Nitrogenous matter, ..... 

Fat, ........ 

Carbohydrates, ...... 

Mineral matter, ...... 

Dynamic value, 4,193 foot-tons. 



Punishment Diet 



Nitrogenous matter. 
Fat, ..... 
Carbohydrates, . ^ 

Mineral matter, 

Dynamic value, 1,541 foot-tons. 



per diem. 



Ounces. 
3.784 
1.580 
19.864 
0.972 



Ounces. 

L296 

0.256 

8.160 

0.368 



On comparing the hard labor diet with the collection of dietaries framed 
by Dr. Playfair {vide p. 292) it will be seen that it very closely conforms 
with the representative diet for full health and moderate exercise, and is con- 
siderably under that, particularly in nitrogenous matter, of active laborers. 
The industrial employment diet is of a rather higher nutritive value in 
each respect than the light labor diet. The penal diet, whilst containing 
less nitrogenous matter than the hard labor diet, surpasses it in carbo- 
hydrates and has about the same amount of fat. In force-producing value 
it holds the higher position of the two. The punishment diet would be 
inadequate for the support of life as a continuance. 



PRINCIPLES OP DIETETICS. 299 

Some extraordinary instances of subsistence upon a small amount of 
food — indeed the amount is so small as almost to excite suspicion with 
regard to its accuracy — are to be found recorded. A well-known case, 
remarks Dr. Carpenter, is that of Thomas Wood, the miller of Billericay, 
reported to the College of Physicians in 1767 by Sir George Baker, in 
which a remarkable degree of vigor is said to have been sustained for up- 
ward of eighteen years upon no other nutriment than 16 oz. of flour made in- 
to a pudding, with water, no other liquid of any kind being taken. In nutri- 
tive value 16 oz. of flour will represent 1.72 oz. of nitrogenous matter, 
0.32 oz. of fat, and 11.28 oz. of carbohydrates. 

A more striking instance still is that afforded by the case of Cornaro, 
a Venetian of noble descent, who lived in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- 
turies, and attained an age of upward of 100. Impressed with the con- 
viction that the older a man gets and the less amount of power he possesses 
the less should be the amount of food consumed, in opposition to the 
common notion that more should be taken to compensate for his failing 
power, he, at about 40 years of age, resolved to enter upon a new course, 
and betake himself to a spare diet and scrupulously regular mode of life, 
after having, as he says, previously led a life of indulgence in eating and 
drinking, and having been endowed with a feeble constitution and "fallen 
into different kinds of disorders, such as pains in my stomach, and often 
stitches, and spices of the gout, attended by what was still worse, an 
almost continual slow fever, a stomach generally out of order, and a per- 
petual thirst." He also did all that lay in his power " to avoid those 
evils which we do not find it so easy to remove. These are melancholy, 
hatred, and other violent passions, w^hich appear to have the greatest in- 
fluence over our bodies. The consequence was, that in a few days I be- 
gan," he adds, "to perceive that such a course agreed with me very well; 
and by pursuing it, in less than a year I found myself (some persons, per- 
haps, will not believe it) entirely freed from all my complaints. ... I 
chose wine suited to my stomach, drinking of it but the quantity I knew 
I could digest. I did the same by my meat, as well in regard to quantity 
as to quality, accustoming myself to contrive matters so as never to cloy 
my stomach with eating or drinking; but constantly rise from the table 
with a disposition to eat and drink still more. In this I conformed to 
the proverb which says that a man, to consult his health, must check his 
appetite. . . . What loith bread, meat, the yolk of an egg, and 8011}^^ I 
ate as much as weighed in all 12 oz. neither more nor less. . . . I drank 
but 14 oz. of loine."^ Upon this scanty allowance Cornaro tells us he 
perse veringly subsisted; and he lived in possession of all his faculties to 
write a series of discourses at the respective ages of 83, 86, 91, and 95, 
directed toward urging others to follow a similar course. These discourses, 
which are imbued with vigor and vivacity, and contain many shrewd 
remarks on the subject of living, seem to have excited considerable atten- 
tion at the time they appeared, and for many years afterward. A trans- 
lation from the Italian original w^as published in London in 1768, from 
which the above extracts have been taken. 

Reference has been made in the foregoing pages to the actual diets 
consumed under various conditions, and the value of these diets in ali- 
mentary jt)?*mci/)Ze5. It will be instructive now to consider the elementary 
components of food in relation to the outgoing elements from the body. 
Regarded under this point of view, scientific data are afforded for showing 

* The italics have been introduced by the author. 



300 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



the combination of alimentary principles that is best adapted for adminis- 
tering in the most economical manner to the wants of the system. We 
can ascertain, for instance, the amount of carbon and nitrogen escaping 
from the body as products of destruction, and then with a knowledge of 
the composition of food can define the precise kind and amount required 
for compensation without any surplus on either side. 

To assist in determining the amounts of different alimentary articles 
required to be consumed to yield a given daily supply of nitrogen and car- 
bon, a table has been furnished by Payen,* of which the following is a 
copy, with the omission of such as have been deemed unimportant: 

Tahle^ from Payen, showing the Quantity of Nitrogen and Carbon iii 100 
JParts of Various Alimentary Articles. Tinder the head of carbon is 
included, not only this element, but likewise its equivalent of the hydro- 
gen\ existing in the co^npound in excess of what is necessary to form, 
water with the oxygen present. 

(Multiplying the figures representing the nitrogen by 6.5 gives the equivalent amount 

of nitrogenous matter.) 



Beef, without bone, 
Roast beef, 
Bullock's heart. 
Calves' liver, 
Foie gras, . 
Calves' lights. 
Sheep's kidneys, 
Skate, 
Conger eels. 
Cod-fish, salted. 
Sardines in oil, 
Herrinofs, salted, 



'O'^J 



Herrings, fresh. 

Whiting, 

Mackerel, 

Sole, . 

Salmon, 

Pike, . 

Carp, . 

Gudo:eons, 

Eels,^ . 

Eggs, 

Cow's milk, 

Goat's milk, 

Russian caviare, 

Mussels (fleshy substance), 

Oysters (fleshy substance). 

Lobster (raw fleshy substance). 

Lobster (soft internal substance), 

Cheese, Brie, .... 

Cheese, Gruyere, . . 



Nitrogen. 
3.00 
3.528 
2.831 
3.093 
2.115 
3.458 
2.655 
3.85 
3.95 
5.02 
6.00 
3.11 
1.83 
2.41 
3.74 
1.91 
2.09 
3.25 
3.49 
2.77 
2.00 
1.90 
0.66 
0.69 
4.49 
1.804 
2.13 
2.93 
L87 
2.93 
5.00 



Carbon. 
11.00 

17.76 
16.16 
15.68 
65.58 
14.50 
12.15 
12.25 
12.60 
16.00 
29.00 
23.00 
2L00 
9.00 
19.26 
12.25 
16.00 
1L50 
12.10 
13.50 
30.05 
13.50 
800 
8.60 
27.41 
9.00 
7.18 
10.96 
7.30 
35.00 
38.00 



* Substances Alimentaires, p. 488. Paris, 1865. 

f A given quantity of hydrogen is equivalent to three times the amount of carbon 
in capacity of appropriating oxygen under conversion respectively into water and car- 
bonic acid. 



PKINCIPLES OE DIETETICS. 



801 













Nitrogen. 


Carbon. 


Cheese, Cheshire, 4.126 


41.04 


Cheese, Parmesan, 


. 


• . 




. 6.997 


40.00 


Cheese, cream, 


• 


• 






. 2.920 


7L10 


Cheese, Roquefort, • 


• 


• 






. 4.210 


44.44 


Cheese, Dutch, 


. 


• 






. 4.80 


43.54 


Cheese, Neufchatel, fresh, 


• 








. 1.27 


50.71 


Beans, .... 


• 








. 4.50 


42.00 


Beans, green dried, . 










. 4.46 


46.00 


Beans, Haricots, 










. 3.92 


43.00 


Beans, dried, split, . 










. 4.15 


48.50 


Lentils, 










. 3.87 


43.00 


Peas, dried, ordinary, 










. 3.66 


44.00 


Peas, split, green, dried, . 










. 3.91 


46.00 


Hard wheat from the soutl 


^} 








. 3.00 


41.00 


Soft wheat, 










. L81 


39.00 


Flour, Parisian white. 










. 1.64 


38.50 


Rye flour, . 










. 1.75 


41.00 


Barley, 










. 1.90 


40.00 


Indian corn. 










. 1.70 


44.00 


Buckwheat, 










. 2.20 


42.50 


Rice, o . . . 










. 1.80 


41.00 


Oatmeal, . 










. 1.95 


44.00 


Bread, Parisian white. 










. 1.08 


29.50 


Bread, household, stale. 










. L07 


28.00 


Bread, household, new, 










. 1.20 


30.00 


Potatoes, . 










. 0.33 


ILOO 


Carrots, 










. 0.31 


5.50 


Mushrooms, forced, . 










. 0.66 


4.520 


Truffles, black, . 










. L350 


9.45 


Truffles, white, . 










. L532 


9.10 


Chestnuts, ordinary, . 










. 0.64 


35.00 


Chestnuts, dried. 










. L04 


48.00 


Gooseberries, 










. 0.14 


7.79 


Figs, fresh. 










. 0.41 


15.50 


Figs, dried. 










. 0.92 


34.00 


Plums, dried, 










. 0.73 


28.00 


Nuts, fresh, 










. 1.40 


10.65 


Almonds, sweet, fresh. 










. 2.677 


40.00 


Coffee, from infusion of 100 grammes (3|- oz.), 


. 1.10 


9.00 


Tea, from infusion of 20 grammes (308|- grains) 


. 0.20 


2.10 


Chocolate, from 100 grammes (3J oz.), 


. L52 


58.00 


Lard, ....... 




. LIS 


71.14 


Butter, ordinary fresh. 










. 0.64 


83.00 


Olive oil, . 










. Traces. 


98.00 


Beer, strong. 










. 0.08 


4.50 


Alcohol, absolute. 










• • 


52.00 


Spirits of wine. 












27.00 


• • 


Wine, 


• 








. 0.015 


4.00 


Dr. Parkes * sets forth the quant 


ity of nitroo^en and carbon contained 


in the typical alimentary principles, and remarks that the amount of the 

• 



Hygiene, third ed., p. 166. 



802 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

two elements present in a given diet may be thence calculated, presum- 
ing its value in alimentary principles to have been ascertained. Thus, he 
says: 

1 oz, of water-free albuminate contains 69 grains nitrogen, 233 grains carbon. 
1 oz. " fat contains 345.6 grains carbon, 

1 oz. " carbohydrate (except lactine) contains 194.2 grains carbon. 

1 oz. *' lactine contains 175 grains carbon. 

In employing this method it is necessary, in the first place, to ex- 
tract, with the aid of the table at p. 291, the dry alimentary principles. 
Then, with the use of the figures above given, the nitrogen and carbon 
may be ascertained. 

From the investigations that have been conducted, it appears that the 
dail}^ quantity of nitrogen required to compensate for the elimination oc- 
curring under ordinary conditions of life may be said to range from about 
250 to 350 grains (16 to 22^ grammes); and of carbon, from 4,000 to 6,000 
grains (259 to 388-2 grammes). Amongst badly fed operatives the 
amounts upon which subsistence has been maintained have been observed 
to be as low as about 170 grains (11 grammes) of nitrogen, and 3,600 
grains (233 grammes) of carbon. 

Taking Moleschott's model diet {vide p. 288), and applying Dr. 
Parkes' method of calculation, the amounts of nitrogen and carbon come 
out as follows: 

Grs. Nitrogen. Grs. Carbon. 
4.587 oz. dry albuminate, . . .316 1068 

2.964 oz. " fat, .... — 1024 

14.257 oz. « carbohydrate, . . — 2768 



Total .... 316 4860 

These amounts, it will be perceived, correspond with about the mean 
of the usual rano;e of ino-ested nitroo-en and carbon mentioned above. 

Let it be assumed, then, that 300 grains of nitrogen and 4,500 grains of 
carbon are daily required. I will proceed to show, after the manner 
adopted by Payen, * in what way these elements are most economically, 
or with the least waste of material, supplied. 

The ratio of the quantities named is as 1 to 16, which implies that six- 
teen times as much carbon is required as nitrogen. In albumen the ratio, 
on the other hand, is about as 1 to 3.5. Hence, if albumen alone were 
supplied, in furnishing the 300 grains of nitrogen, there w^ould only be 
1,050 instead of the 4,800 grains of associated carbon; and conversely, if 
the 4,800 grains of carbon were supplied, there would be 1,371 grains of 
accompanying nitrogen, or rather more than 44^ times the amount re- 
quired. In bread, following Payen's analysis, the ratio of nitrogen to 
carbon is as 1 to 30. The amount of bread, therefore, that would yield 
300 grains of nitrogen w^ould contain 30 times the quantity or 9,000 grains 
of carbon; that is, nearly double the amount required; and should an 
amount of bread be consumed that would just suffice to yield the 4,800 
grains of carbon, 160 grains, or only rather more than half the quantity 
of nitrogen required, would be supplied. 

From these considerations, it follows that neither bread nor albumen 
are adapted for economically furnishing what is wanted, and what is true 

* Substances Alimeutaires, p. 483. Paris, 1865. 



PRINCIPLES OF DIETETICS. 303 

concerning these articles is equally so of others containing a preponder- 
ance of either carbon or nitrogen. It is upon a due admixture of the two 
that the principle of adjustment is founded; and as nitrogenous princi- 
ples preponderate in animal food and the carbonaceous or non-nitrogenous 
in veo*etable, we see that the teachings of science harmonize with the in- 
stinctive propensity which inclines man so universally to the employment 
of a mixed diet whenever the circumstances under which he is placed ad- 
mit of its being obtained. 

The following tabular arrangement will more forcibly illustrate the 
point in question. 

Let meat be taken instead of albumen. In round numbers it contains 
11 per cent, of carbon and 3 per cent, of nitrogen. 43,637 grains, or 
rather over 6 pounds, "will thus yield 4,800 grains of carbon; 1,309 grains 
of nitro2:en. 

Bread contains, say 30 per cent, of carbon and 1 per cent, of nitrogen 
(Payen). Hence, 30,000 grains, or rather over 4 pournds, v^ill yield 
9,000 grains of carbon; 300 grains of nitrogen. 

In the first case there is the requisite quantity of carbon and a sur- 
plus of 1,009 grains of nitrogen, which corresponds with 33,633 grains, or 
about 4f pounds, of meat; and in the second, the requisite quantity of 
nitrogen and a surplus of 4,200 grains of carbon, which corresponds with 
14,000 grains, or 2 pounds of bread. 

Suppose, now, that a suitable admixture of bread and meat be given, 
the result will stand as follows: 

14,000 grs. (2 lbs.) of bread contain 4,200 grs. carbon, 140 grs. nitrogen. 
5,500 grs. (about | lb.) of meat contain 605 grs. " 165 grs. " 

Total, 4,805 305 

Hence from 2 pounds of bread and about J pound of meat we can 
obtain a sufficient amount of both carbon and nitrogen; whilst rather 
over 6 pounds of meat and rather more than 4 pounds of bread, if taken 
singly, would be respectively required to satisfy the demand in the case 
of the two elements. 

The train of reasoning here pursued is equally applicable to a combina- 
tion of nitrogenous food with the non-nitrogenous principle — fat. By a 
proper adjustment of these articles the precise quantities of carbon and 
nitrogen required can be in a similar manner supplied without waste in 
either case. 



PEACTICAL DIETETICS. 



PROPER FOOD OF MAIST. 

Upon tbe supply of a proper quantity and quality of food, the main- 
tenance of health and life is dependent. The records of this and other 
nations have from time to time afforded bitter evidence of how inti- 
mately disease and mortality are associated with the supply of food. 
JPlague^ pestilence, and famine stand associated together in the public 
mind, and, through an imperfect knowledge of the principles of dietetics, 
the most calamitous results have sometimes occurred from improper diet- 
ing amongst large bodies of men. The consideration of food thus be- 
comes a matter of the deepest public importance. To its physiological 
contemplation the previous pages have been devoted, and now its prac- 
tical bearings, both in relation to health and sickness, will form the sub- 
ject of attention. 

As has been already stated, it is to organic nature that we have to 
look for our supply of food, and we have found it to be derivable from 
both animal and vegetable products. Looking at the various animal or- 
ganisms around us, it is noticeable that some are designed for subsist- 
ence upon an exclusively animal, others upon an exclusively vegetable, 
and others, again, upon a mixed diet. 

Let us see what kind of food is best adapted for the support of man. 

It may be premised by saying that no animal possesses so great a 
power of accommodating itself to varied external conditions as man, and 
this is true of diet as well as of other things. Without this power the 
distribution of mankind over the surface of the globe must have been 
much more limited than it is. The difference of climate in different lati- 
tudes not only gives rise to different personal requirements as regards 
food, but likewise modifies the character of the alimentary products that 
are to be found; and it happens, as with other portions of the plan of 
nature, that the two are in harmony with each other. In illustration 
of this subject, I will here introduce a collection of extracts from various 
sources, representing the nature of the food consumed by the inhabitants 
of different parts of the globe. 

Extracts from the Works of Various Authors Descriptive of the Kind of 
Food Consumed hy the Inhabitants of Different Parts of the Globe. 

Arctic Regions. — " The Esquimaux are mainly an animal-feeding peo- 
ple, and their food consists of the reindeer, musk-ox, walrus, seals, birds, 
and salmon. They will, however, eat any kind of animal food, and are 
fond of fat and marrow." — " Lubbock's Pre-historic Times," p. 485. 1869. 

" Our journeys have taught us the wisdom of the Esquimaux , appe- 
tite, and there are few among us who do not relish a slice of raw blubber 



PKACTICAL DIETETICS. 305 

or a chunk of frozen walrus-beef. The liver of a walrus (awuktanuk), 
eaten with little slices of his fat, of a verity, it is a delicious morsel. Fire 
would ruin the curt, pithy expression of vitality which belongs to its un- 
cooked juices. Charles Lamb's roast pig was nothing to awuktanuk. I 
wonder that raw beef is not eaten at home. Deprived of extraneous fibre, 
it is neither indigestible nor difficult to masticate. With acids and con- 
diments, it makes a salad which an educated palate cannot help relishing, 
and, as a powerful and condensed heat-making and anti-scorbutic food, it 
has no rival. 

" I make this last broad assertion after carefully testing its truth. 
The natives of South Greenland prepare themselves for a long journey in 
the cold by a course of frozen seal. At Upernavik they do the same with 
the narwhal, which is thought more heat-making than the seal; while the 
bear, to use their own expression, is 'stronger travel than all.' 

" In Smith's Sound, where the use of raw meat seems almost inevitable 
from the modes of living of the people, walrus holds the first rank. Cer- 
tainly this pachyderm, whose finely condensed tissue and delicate-perme- 
ating fat — oh ! call it not blubber — assimilate it to the ox, is beyond all 
others, and is the very best fuel a man can swallow. It became our con- 
stant companion whenever we could get it, and a frozen liver upon our 
sledge was valued far above the same weight of pemmican." — " Kane's 
Arctic Explorations," vol. ii., pp. 15, 16. 1856. 

The Greeistlandees. — "The choicest dish of the Greenlanders is the 
flesh of the reindeer. But as those animals have now become extremely 
scarce — and several of them are soon consumed by a hunting-party — they 
are indebted to the sea for their permanent sustenance: seals, fish, and 
sea-fowl. Hares and partridges are in no great estimation as delicacies. 
The head and fins of the seal are preserved under the grass in summer, 
and in winter a whole seal is frequently buried in the snow. The flesh, 
half-frozen, half-putrid, in which state the Greenlanders term it mikiak, 
is eaten with the keenest appetite. The ribs are dried in the air and laid 
up in store. The remaining parts of the seal, as well as birds and small 
fishes, are eaten, well boiled or stewed with a small quantity of sea-water. 
On the capture of a seal the wound is immediately stopped up, to pre- 
serve the blood, which is rolled into balls like forcemeat." — " Simmond's 
Curiosities of Food," p. 32. 1859. 

The Icelanders. — "The diet of the Icelanders consists almost solely 
of animal food, of which fish, either fresh or dried, forms by far the largest 
proportion. During the summer they have milk and butter in considera- 
ble abundance; but of bread and every other vegetable food there is the 
utmost scarcity, and among the lower classes an almost entire privation. 
.... As an effect of these circumstances in the mode of life of the Ice- 
landers, cutaneous diseases, arising from a cachectic state of the body, 
are exceedingly frequent among them, and appear under some of their 
worst forms. Scurvy and leprosy are common in the island, occurring es- 
pecially on the western coast, where the inhabitants depend chiefly upon 
fishing, and where the pastures are inferior in extent and produce. . . . 
Scurvy is observed to occur with greatest frequency at those periods when 
there has been a deficiency of food among the inhabitants, or when the 
snow and frost of the winter succeed immediately to a wet autumnal sea- 
son. For its cure a vegetable diet is employed, in as far as the circum- 
stances of the Icelanders will allow of such means. Fruits of every kind 
are altogether wanting to them; but some advantage is derived from the 
employment of the Cochlearia {officinalis et Danica)^ of the trefoil {Tri- 
20 



306 A TEEATISE OIT FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

folium repeals), of the berries and tops of the juniper {Ju^iiperus commu- 
nis)^ and of the Sedu'm acre, plants which are all indigenous in the island. 
Inflammatory affections of the abdominal viscera are likewise very com- 
mon among the Icelanders, chiefly, perhaps, in consequence of the peculiar 
diet to which they are accustomed. 

"The diet of the Icelanders likewise gives much disposition to worms, 
and the ascarides are observed to beparticularly frequent."— "Mackenzie's 
Travels in Iceland," pp. 407-412. 1811. 

Siberia. — Lower Kolyma. — " One of the women prepares the frugal 
dinner or supper, which usually consists of either fish or reindeer-meat 
boiled or fried in train-oil. As an occasional delicacy, they have baked 
cakes of fish-roe or of dried and finely-pounded muksuns, which are the 

substitutes for meal Bread is everywhere rare. From the meal, 

which is so dear that only the rich can buy it, a drink is prepared called 
saturan." — " Wrangell's Expedition to the Polar Sea," p. 75. 1844. 

The tTaJcuts. — " Their food consists of sour cow's milk and mare's 
milk, and of beef and horseflesh. They boil their meat, but never roast or 
bake it, and bread is unknown among them. Fat is their greatest deli- 
cacy. They eat it in every possible shape — raw, melted, fresh, or spoilt. 
In general, they regard quantity more than quality in their food. They 
grate the inner bark of the larch, and sometimes of the fir, and mix it with 
fish, a little meal, and milk, or by preference with fat, and make it into a 
sort of broth, which they consume in large quantities. They prepare 
from cow's milk what is called the Jakut butter. It is more like a kind 
of cheese or of curd, and has a sourish taste; it iS not very rich, and is a 
very good article of food eaten alone." — " Wrangell's Expedition to the 
Polar Sea," p. 23. 1844. 

North Americaist Indians. — " The buffalo-meat, however, is the great 
staple and staff of life in this country [Mandan Village, Upper Missouri], 
and seldom, if ever, fails to afford them an abundant and wholesome means 
of subsistence. There are, from a fair computation, something like 
250,000 Indians in these western regions, who live almost exclusively on 
the flesh of these animals through every part of the year." — " Catlin's 
Letters on the North American Indians," vol. i., p. 122. 

Indian Tribes op the Interior of Oregon. — " They all prefer 
their meat putrid, and frequently keep it until it smells so strong as to 
be disgusting. Parts of the salmon they bury under ground for two 
or three months, to putrefy, and the more it is decayed the greater deli- 
cacy they consider it." — " Wilks' U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. iv., 
p. 452. 

Mexico. — "The Indians of New Spain — those, at least, subject to the 
European domination — generally attain to a pretty advanced age. As 
peaceable cultivators and inhabitants of villages, they are not exposed to 
the accidents attending: the wanderino- life of the hunters and warriors of 
the Mississippi and of the savannas of the Rio Gila. Accustomed to uni- 
form nourishment of an almost entirely vegetable nature, that of their 
maize and cereal gramina, the Indians would undoubtedly attain very 
great longevity if their constitutions were not weakened by drunkenness. 
Their intoxicating liquors are rum, a fermentation of maize and the root of 
the Jatroplia^ and especially the wine of the country, made of the juice of 
the Agave Americana, coMedi 2^ulque. This last liquor is nutritive on ac- 
count of the undecomposed sugar which it contains. Many Indians ad- 
dicted \jop\dque take for a long time very little solid nourishment. When 
used with moderation, it is very salutary, and, by fortifying the stomach, 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 307 

assists the function of the gastric system." — "Taylor's Selections from 
Humboldt's Works relating to Mexico," pp. 67, 68. 1824. 

*' The usual food of the laboring classes, throughout such states as I 
visited, is the thin cake of crushed maize, which I have described under 
the name tortilla; and it is remarkable that, notwithstanding the great 
abundance of cattle in many places, the traveller can rarely obtain meat 
in the little huts which he finds on his road. Chilis are eaten abundantly 
with the tortillas, being stewed in a kind of sauce, into which the cakes 
are dipped. A few fowls are at times to be seen wandering near the cot- 
tages, or some pigs rambling through the village, and the flesh of these 
creatures furnishes a feast on holidays." — " Lyon's Residence in Mexico," 
vol. ii., pp. 244, 245. 1828. 

Pampas Ixdiaints. — " The Indians of whom I heard the most were those 
who inhabit the vast unknown plains of the Pampas, and who are all 
horsemen, or rather pass their lives on horseback. The life they lead is 
singularly interesting. In spite of the climate, which is burning hot in 
summer and freezing in winter, these brave men, who have never yet been 
subdued, are entirely naked, and have not even a covering for their head. 

" They live together in tribes, each of which is governed by a cacique; 
but they have no fixed place of residence. Where the pasture is good, 
there are they to be found until it is consumed by their horses, and they 
then instantly move to a more verdant spot. They have neither bread, 
fruit, nor vegetables ; but they subsist entirely on the flesh of their mares." 
— " F. B. Head's Journeys Across the Pampas," p. 120. 1828. 

" The ground is the bed on which, from their infancy, they have always 
slept. The flesh of mares is the food on which they have been accustomed 
to subsist." — Ibid., p. 122. 

Sir Francis Head, when crossing the Pampas, got tired at first with 
the constant galloping, and was forced to ride in a carriage after five or 
six hours on horseback. " But after," he says, *' I had been riding for 
three or four months, and had lived on beef and water, I found myself in 
a condition which I can only describe by saying that I felt no exertion 
could kill me. Although I constantly arrived so completely exhausted 
that I could not speak, yet a few hours' sleep upon my saddle on the 
ground always so completely restored me, that for a week I could daily 
be upon my horse before sunrise, could ride till two or three hours after 
sunset, and have really tired ten and twelve horses a day. This will ex- 
plain the immense distances which people in South America are said to 
ride, which I am confident could only be done on beef and water." — Ibid., 
p. 51. 

GuACHOS. — " We find a people living between the twentieth and 
fortieth parallels of latitude, in the Argentine Republic, known as Guachos 
[the half-white inhabitants of the Pampas]. They are a mixed race of 
Indian and Spanish blood, who are employed at the ranchos or great cattle 
stations, and spend the greater part of their time on horseback, in hunt- 
ing the half- wild cattle which roam over the wide grassy plains extending 

from the Atlantic coast to the.foot of the Andes These people 

live entirely on roast beef, with a little salt, scarcely ever tasting farina- 
ceous or other vegetable food, and their sole beverage is mate, or Para- 
guay tea, taken without sugar." — " Odontological Society's Transactions," 
vol. ii. new series, p. 44. 

The Natives of Australia. — " Their food consists of fish when near 
the coasts; but when in the woods, of opossums, bandicoots, and almost 
any animal they can catch, and also a kind of grub, which they find in 



308 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

decayed wood. Sometimes they spear a kangaroo. They roast all the 
fish and animals on the ashes, skin and all, just as they catch them. 
When it is pretty well done they divide it amongst themselves by tearing 
it with their teeth and fingers, and, excepting the bones, they devour every 
part, including the entrails." — "Robert Dawson's Present State of Aus- 
tralia," pp. 67, 68. 1830. 

" Amongst the almost unlimited catalogue of edible articles used by 
the natives of Australia, the following may be classed as the chief: All 
salt and fresh-water fish and shell-fish, of which in the large rivers there 
are vast numbers and many species; fresh-water turtle; frogs of different 
kinds; rats and mice; lizards and most kinds of snakes and reptiles; 
grubs of all kinds; moths of several varieties; fungi and many sorts of 
roots; the leaves and tops of a variety of plants; the leaf and fruit of the 
Mesembryanthemum; various kinds of fruits and berries; the bark from 
the roots of many trees and shrubs; the seeds of leguminous plants; gum 
from several species of acacia; different sorts of manna; honey from the 
native bee, and also from the flowers of the Banksia by soaking them in 
water; the tender leaves of the grass-tree; the larvae of insects; white 
ants; eggs of birds; turtles or lizards; many kinds of kangaroo; opos- 
sums; squirrels, sloths, and wallabies; ducks, geese, teal, cockatoos, par- 
rots, wild dogs, and wombats; the native companion, the wild turkey, the 
swan, the pelican, the leipoa, and an endless variety of water-fowl and other 
descriptions of birds." — " Eyre's Central Australia," vol. ii., pp. 250, 251. 

New Zealand. — "In former times the food of the natives consisted 
of sweet potatoes, taro {Caladiwni esculentum), iern-root [Pteris escu- 
lenta), the aromatic berries of the kahikatea {^Dacrydium excelsimi), the 
pulp of a fern-tree {^Cyathea medullaris) called korau or mamako, the 
sweet root of the Dracmna indivisa, the heart of a palm-tree {Areca 
sapida), a bitter though excellent vegetable, the Sonchus oleracetts, and 
many different berries. Of animals they consumed fishes, dogs, the in- 
digenous rat, crawfish, birds, and guanas. Rough mats of their own 
making, or dog-skins, constituted their clothing. They were hardened 
against the influence of the climate by the necessity of exerting them- 
selves in procuring these provisions, and by their frequent predatory and 
travelling excursions, which produced a healthy excitement, and with it 
an easy digestion of even this crude diet." — " Dieffenbach's Travels in 
New Zealand," vol. ii., pp. 17, 18. 1843. 

Fish is the principal food of the inhabitants, and, therefore, the in- 
land tribes are frequently in danger of perishing of famine. " Their 
country produces neither sheep nor goats, nor hogs, nor cattle; tame 
fowls they have none." 

The vegetables eaten are fern-root, yams, clams, and potatoes. 

They also eat dogs. — " Cook's First Voyage " (Hawkesworth, vol. iii., 
p. 447;. 

Roots of the fern are to the people what bread is to the inhabitants 
of Europe. 

" The birds which sometimes serve them for a feast are chiefly pen- 
guins and albatrosses. — Ibid., p. 459. 

The Natives of the Friendly Islands. — " Yams, plantains, and 
cocoa-nuts compose the greatest part of their vegetable diet. Of their 
animal food, the chief articles are hogs, fowls, fish, and all sorts of shell- 
fish; but the lower people eat rats. 

*'Hogs, fowls, and turtle seem to be reserved for their chiefs. "— 
"Cook's Third Voyage," vol. i., p. 397. 



PE ACTIO AL DIETETICS. 309 

The Inhabitants of Otaheite. — " Their food consists of pork, poul- 
try, dog's flesh, and fish; bread-fruit, bananas, plantains, yams, apples, 
and a sour fruit which, though not pleasant by itself, gives an agreeable 
relish to roasted bread-fruit, with which it is frequently beaten up." — 
"AYallis' Voyage," 1767 {" Hawkesworth's Voyages," vol. i., p. 483). 

" I cannot much commend the flavor of their fowls, but we all agreed 
that a South Sea dog was little inferior to an English lamb; their ex- 
cellence is probably owing to their being kept up and fed wholly upon 
vegetables." — '^Cook's First Voyage " (" Hawkesworth's Voyages," vol. 
ii., pp. 196-199). 

" Their common diet is made up of at least nine-tenths of vegetable 
food." 

*' Of animal food a very small portion falls at any time to the share of 
the lower class of people, and then it is either fish, sea-eggs, or other 
marine productions." — " Cook's Third Voyage," vol. ii., pp. 148 and 154. 

Feejee Islands. — " What all vovasrers have said of the cocoa-nut 
tree we found to be true, only, instead of its uses being exaggerated, as 
some have supposed, they are, in my opinion, underrated. A native 
may well ask if a land contains cocoa-nuts, for if it does he is assured it 
will afford him abundance to supply his wants." — *' Wilkes, U. S. Ex- 
ploring Expedition," vol. iii., p. 334. 

Tanna (one of the New Hebrides). — "The produce of the island is 
bread-fruit, plantains, cocoa-nuts, a fruit like a nectarine, yams, tarra (a 
sort of potato), sugar-cane, wild figs, and some other fruits and nuts. 

" Hogs did not seem to be scarce, but we saw not many fowls. These 
are the only domestic animals they have, 

*' I believe these people live chiefly on the produce of the land, and 
that the sea contributes but little to their subsistence. Whether this 
arises from the coast not abounding with fish, or from their being bad 
fishermen, I know not; both causes, perhaps, concur." — "Cook's Second 
Voyage," vol. ii., p. 77. 

New Caledonia. — The inhabitants "subsist chiefly on roots and fish 
and the bark of a tree, which, I am told, grows also in the West Indies. 
This they roast and are almost continually chewing. It has a sweetish, 
insipid taste, and was liked by some of our people. Water is their only 
liquor — at least I never saw any other made use of." — Ibid., vol. ii., p. 
123. 

Island of Savu (between Australia and Java). — " The food of these 
people consists of every tame animal in the country, of which the hog 
holds the first place in their estimation, and the horse the second; next 
to the horse is the buffalo, next to the buffalo their poultry, and they 
prefer dogs and cats to sheep and goats. They are not fond of fish." 

The fan-palm is at certain times a succedaneum for all other food, 
both to man and beast. A kind of wine called toddy is procured from 
this tree.— " Cook's First Voyage" (Hawkesworth, vol. iii., pp. 688, 689.) 

Sandwich Islands. — "The food of the lower class of people consists 
principally of fish and vegetables, such as yams, sweet potatoes, tarrow, 
plantains, sugar-canes, and bread-fruit. To these the people of a higher 
rank add the flesh of hogs and dogs, dressed in the same manner as at 
the Society Islands, They also eat fowls of the same domestic kind with 
ours; but they are neither plentiful nor much esteemed by them." — 
" Cook's Third Voyage," vol. iii. (by Capt. King), p. 141. 

"The principal food of the lower class of the population, and, in fact, 
the favorite food of all classes, is poiJ^ This "is a sort of paste made 



310 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

from the root of the kalo [Arum esculentum), a water plant, cultivated 
to a great extent throughout all the islands." "The kalo is much used 
by the foreign residents as a substitute for potatoes, or rather for bread, 
being for this purpose either boiled or fried." 

" These (their fish) the natives prefer in a raw state, on the ground 
that they lose their flavor in cooking, considering it as the richest possible 
treat, when on their aquatic excursions, to haul a fish from the water and 
literally eat it to death." — " Sir George Simpson's Journey Kound the 
World," vol. ii., pp. 31-41. 1847. 

China. — " The Chinese, again, have no prejudice whatever as regards 
food; they eat anything and everything from which they can derive 
nutrition. Dogs, rats, mice, monkeys, snakes, sea-slugs, rotten eggs, 
putrefied fish, unhatched ducks and chickens." "Both in eating and 
drinking the Chinese are temperate, and are satisfied with two daily 
meals; the morning rice about 10 a.m., and the evening rice at 5 p.m. 
The only repugnance I have observed in China is to the use of milk." 
"I never saw or heard of butter, cream, milk, or whey, being introduced 
at any Chinese table." — Bowring: Statistical Society Journal^ vol. xx., 
p. 47. ^ 

"Their famous gin-sing, a name signifying the life of a man (the 
Panax quinquefolium of Linnaeus), on account of its supposed invigor- 
ating and aphrodisiac qualities, was for a length of time weighed against 
gold. The sinewy parts of stags and other animals, with the fins of 
sharks, as productive of the same effects, are purchased by the wealthy 
at enormous prices; and the nests that are constructed by small swallows 
on the coasts of Cochin China, Cambodia, and other parts of the East, 
are dearer even than some kinds of gin-sing. Most of the plants that 
grow on the sea-shore are supposed to possess an invigorating quality, 
and are, therefore, in constant use as pickles or preserves, or simply dried 
and cut into soups in the place of other Tegetables. The leaves of one 
of these, apparently a species of that genus called by botanists fuCus, 
after being gathered, are steeped in fresh water and hung up to dry. A 
small quantity of this weed boiled in water gives to it the consistence of 
a jelly, and when mixed with a little sugar, the juice of an orange, or 
other fru;t, and set by to cool, I know of no jelly more agreeable or re- 
freshing." 

" The great officers of state make use of these and various other gela- 
tinous viands for the purpose of acquiring, as they suppose, a proper de- 
gree of corpulency." — " Barrow's Travels in China," pp. 551, 552. 1806. 

" The food of these people [Chinese laborers] is of the simplest kind, 
namely, rice, vegetables, and a small portion of animal food, such as fish 
or pork. But the poorest classes in China seem to understand the art of 
preparing their food much better than the same classes at home. With 
the simple substances I have named, the Chinese laborer contrives to make 
a number of very savory dishes, upon which he breakfasts or dines most 
sumptuously." — "Fortune's Residence among the Chinese," p. 42. 

JapajST. — Japan surpasses most other countries hitherto known to us 
in the multiplicity of the articles of food to be met with in its islands and 
the surroundino- ocean. 

" Rice, which is here exceedingly white and well-tasted, supplies with 
the Japanese, the place of bread; they eat it boiled with every kind of 
provisions. 

" Miso soup, boiled with fish and onions, is eaten by the common peo- 
ple, frequently three times a days, at each of their customary meals. 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 311 

Misos are not unlike lentils, and are small beans gathered from the Doli- 
chos soja. 

" Fish is likewise a very common dish with the Japanese, both boiled 
and fried in oil. Fowls, of which they have a great variety, both wild and 
tame, are eaten in great abundance; and the flesh of whales, though coarse, 
is in several places, at least among the poorer sort, a very common food." 

" In preparing their victuals they make use of expressed oils of several 
different sorts." "In their victuals they make a very plentiful use of 
mushrooms, and the fruit of the Solaniun melongena (egg-apple), as well 
as the roots of the SolamLm esculentwn (batatas), carrots and several 
kinds of bulbous roots and of beans." 

*' Of oysters and other shell-fish several different sorts are eaten, but 
alwavs boiled or stewed, as likewise shrimps and crabs." — " Thunberg's 
Travels," vol. iv., pp. 35-39. 1705 

IxDiA. — From the earliest period the most general food in India has 
been rice, which is still the most common food of nearly all the hottest 
countries of Asia. It is not, however, so much used in the south of Hin- 
dostan as formerly, and has been replaced by another grain, called ragi. 
— "Buckle's History of Civilization," vol. i., pp. 64, 65. 

" The principal food of the people of Hindostan is wheat, and in the 
Deccan, jo war and bajra; rice, as a general article of subsistence, is con- 
fined to Bengal and part of Behar, with the low country along the sea all 
round the coast of the peninsula. In most parts of India it is only used 
as a luxury. In the southern part of the table-land of the Deccan the 
body of the people live on a small and poor grain, called ragi ( Cynosurus 
corocanus). Though these grains each afford the principal supply to 
particular divisions, they are not confined to their own tracts." Pulse, 
roots, and fruits are largely eaten. — " Elphinstone's History of India," 
vol. i., pp. 12, 13. 

Ceylon. — " The ordinary diet of the people is very meagre, consisting 
of rice seasoned with salt, the chief condiment of the East, and a few 
vegetables, flavored with lemon-juice and pepper, from which they will 
make at any time a hearty meal. Beef is forbidden, being an abomina- 
tion. Flesh is scarce, and fish not always plentiful, but when it is they 
prefer selling it to Europeans to keeping it for themselves. It is consid- 
ered anything but a reproach to be sparing in diet, but rather a credit to 
live on hard fare and suffer huno-er. 

*' The hondrew class are rather more luxurious, eating from five or six 
sorts of food, one or two of which consists of meat or fish, and the re- 
mainder of vegetable dishes. Their chief food, however, is rice, the other 
dishes being used principally for a relish." — " Fridham's Ceylon," vol. i., 
p. 263. 1849. 

Almost endless cocoa-nut forests in Ceylon provide the native with 
the most important necessary for supporting existence. — "Voyage of the 
Novara," vol. i., p. 366. 

Egypt. — Beef and goose constituted the principal part of the animal 
food throughout Egypt. 

" The advantages of a leguminous diet are still acknowledged by the 
inhabitants of modern Egypt. This, in a hot climate, is far more condu- 
cive to health than the constant introduction of meat, which is principally 
used to flavor the vegetables cooked with it." 

Vegetables form the principal food of the lower orders, and lentils are 
a chief article of diet. — " Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii,, pp. 
368-388. 



312 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

" The usual season for sowing the doura, which constitutes almost the 
whole subsistence of the peasantry, is soon after the commencement of 
the inundation." — " Hamilton's ^Egyptiaca," p. 419. 1809. 

Sahaea. — " Dates are not only the principal growth of the Fezzan 
oases, but the main subsistence of their inhabitants. All live on dates — 
men, women, and children, horses, asses, and camels, and sheep, fowls, 
and dogs." — "Richardson's Travels in the Great Desert," vol. ii., p. 323. 
1848. 

Nubia. — " We have another example of a race subsisting entirely on 
animal food, in the Arabs who inhabit the Nubian desert — a district which 
consists principally of hills varying from 1,000 to 1,800 feet high, and is 
destitute of all vegetable products suitable for human food. Their camels 
subsist on the thorny shrubs growing among the rocks; and the milk and 
flesh of these animals (with salt) constitute their sole ordinary food. On 
their occasional journeys into Egypt, to sell camels, they usually bring 
home a small quantity of wheat, which is never ground, but boiled into a 
kind of frumenty, and eaten as a luxury, but it must not be reckoned as 
an ordinary element in their diet." — " Odontological Society Transac- 
tions," vol. ii., new series, p. 45. 

Abyssinia. — " An instinctive feeling, dependent upon the pleasures 
of a state of warmth, has taught the Abyssinians that flesh of animals 
eaten raw is a source of great physical enjoyment by the cordial and 
warming effects upon the system produced by its digestion, and to which 
I am convinced hons vivants more civilized than the Abyssinians would 
resort if placed in their situation. Travellers who have witnessed their 
" brunde " feasts can attest to the intoxicating effects of this kind of food, 
and they must have been astonished at the immense quantities that can 
be eaten in the raw state compared to that when the meat is cooked, and 
at the insensibility which it sometimes produces." This raw meat, how- 
ever, is considered a luxury, and is only indulged in at festivals. — 
" Johnston's Travels in Southern Abyssinia," vol. ii., p. 226. 1844. 

" The Abyssinians suffer considerably in their health from the difii- 
culty of obtaining salt." — Ibid., vol. ii., p. 175. 

Dahomey. — " The diet is simple, consisting chiefly of messes of meat 
and vegetable, mixed with palm oil and pepper, with which is eaten a 
corn-cake, called kankee, or dab-a-dab. There is very little variety. A 
mixture of beans, peppers, and palm oil, is made into a cake and sold to 
travellers; yams and cassada form the staples of food. Foreign liquors 
are scarce and expensive; and as palm wine is forbidden by the king, the 
chief drinks are a very palatable malt called pitto, and a sort of burgoo 
called ah-kah-sar." — " Forbes' Dahomey and the Dahomans," vol. i., pp. 
29, 30. 1851. 

"The Warori are small and shrivelled black savages. Their diminu- 
tive size is, doubtless, the effect of scanty food, continued through many 
generations.'* " The principal articles of diet are milk, meat, and espe- 
cially fattened dogs' flesh, of which the chiefs are inordinately fond, 
maize, holcus, and millet. Rice is not grown in these arid districts." 
" Burton's Lake Regions of Central Africa," vol. ii., p. 273. 

Wamrima or Coast Clans. — " Their food is mostly ugali, the thick 
porridge of boiled millet or maize flour, which represents the ' staff of 
life ' in East Africa. They usually feed twice a day, in the morning and 
at nightfall. They employ the cocoa-nut extensively; like the Arabs of 
Zanzibar, they boil their rice in the thick juice of the rasped albumen 
kneaded with water, and they make cakes of the pulp mixed with the 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 313 

flour of various grains. This immoderate use of the fruit, which, accord- 
ing to the people, is highly refrigerant, causes, it is said, rheumatic and 
other diseases. A respectable man seen eating a bit of raw or undressed 
cocoa-nut would be derided by his fellows." — Ibid., vol. i., p. 35. 1860. 

East Africans. — " With the savage and the barbarian, food is the 
all-in-all of life; food is his thought by day — food is his dream by night." 

" The principal articles of diet are fish and flesh, grain and vegeta- 
bles; the luxuries are, milk and butter, honey, and a few fruits, as bananas 
and Guinea-palm dates; and the inebriants are pombe or millet-beer, 
toddy, and mawa or plantain wine." 

" The Arabs assert that in these latitudes vegetables cause heartburn 
and acidity, and that animal food is the most digestible. The Africans 
seem to have made the same discovery. A man who can afford it almost 
confines himself to flesh, and considers fat the essential element of good 
living."— Ibid., vol. ii., pp. 280-287. 

Cabango (a village situated on the banks of the Chihombo). — "The 
chief vegetable food is the manioc and lotsa meal. These contain a very 
large proportion of starch, and when eaten alone for any length of time 
produce most distressing heartburn. As we ourselves experienced in 
coming north, they also cause a weakness of vision, which occurs in the 
case of animals fed on pure gluten or amylaceous matter only. I now 
discovered that when these starchy substances are eaten along with a 
proportion of ground-nuts, which contain a quantity of oil, no injurious 
effects follow." — "Livingstone's Missionary Travels and Researches in 
South Africa," p. 455. 1857. 

Kaffirs. — " The principal diet of the Kaffir is milk, which he eats 
rather than drinks, in a sour and curdled state. One good meal a day, 
taken in the evening, consisting of the curdled milk and a little millet, 
is almost all that he requires, and with this he is strong, vigorous, and 
robust, proving that large quantities of animal food are by no means 
necessary for the sustenance of the human frame." 

A Kaffir will never touch pork. Fish is likewise abstained from by 
him. He will eat the flesh of an ox, cooked or raw. — " Simmonds' Curi- 
osities of Food," p. 39. 

BosjESMANS. — "The African Bushmen, who have few or no cattle, 
live upon what they can get. Hunger compels them to eat everything — 
roots, bulbs, wild garlic, the core of aloes, the gum of acacias, berries, the 
larvas of ants, lizards, locusts, and grasshoppers — all are devoured by 
these poor wanderers of the desert. Nothing comes amiss to them." — 
Ibid., p. 38. 

Hottentots. — " The victuals of the Hottentots are the flesh and en- 
trails of cattle, and of certain wild beasts, with fruits and roots of several 
kinds." 

They " rarely kill cattle for their own eating but when they are at a 
loss for other sustenance. The cattle they devour between the Ander- 
smakens are for the most part such as die naturally, and they reckon 'em, 
as I have said, very delicious eating." 

" The entrails of cattle, and of such wild beasts as they kill for food, 
they look upon as most exquisite eating. They boil 'em in beast-blood, if 
they have any, to which they sometimes add milk. This they look upon 
as a glorious dish. If they have not blood to boil 'em in, they broil 'em. 
And this they do on the bare fire, for they have no such thing as a gridiron." 

" They eat everything in such a hurry, and with so much indecency, 
that they look extremely wild and ravenous at meals, particularly when 



814 A TREATISE ON EOOD AND DIETETICS. 

they eat flesh, which being always serv'd up to 'em half raw or more, they 
make a very furious use of their hands (where they have no knives) and 
of their teeth to tear and devour it." 

" Many are the sorts of fruits and roots the Hottentots eat, and the 
fields up and down for the most part abound with 'em. These, as I have 
said, are gather'd wholly by the women. In the choice of roots and fruits 
for food they follow the hedgehog and the bavian, a sort of ape, and will 
not taste of any sort which those creatures do not feed upon " (for fear of 
poison). 

"The Hottentots have no set times for their meals. They have no 
notion of dividing them, as we do, into breakfast, dinner, and supper, 
but take 'em at random, as humor or appetite calls, without any regard 
to the hour of the day or the night." 

They " have traditionary laws, forbidding the eating of certain meats, 
which they accordingly abstain from very carefully. Swine's flesh and 
fishes that have no scales are forbidden to both sexes. The eating of 
hares and rabbits is forbidden to the men, but not to the women. The 
pure blood of beasts and flesh of the mole are forbidden to the women, 
but not to the men." 

" The Hottentots, when they are in great strait for food, will devour 
the rings of leather which the women wear upon their legs. They will 
likewise, in the same strait, eat old cast-off shoes " [which they lay up 
against a time of want]. 

"Their manner of dressing 'em is this : They singe off the hair, then 
having soak'd 'em a little in water, broil 'em upon the bare fire till they 
begin to wrinkle and run up, and then they devour 'em." 

The Hottentots never eat salt among themselves, but " they are not 
a little delighted with the salt and otherwise high-seasoned victuals of 
the Europeans." [Such food, however, disagrees with them, and those 
who eat with the Europeans are subject to many maladies, and don't at- 
tain a great age.] 

" The ordinary drink of the Hottentots is milk and water." 

"Men and women are doatingly fond of tobacco." — "Kolben's State 
of the Cape of Good Hope," pp. 200-208. 1731. 

Thus it is seen that a great diversity exists as regards the food con- 
sumed by the human race in different parts of the globe. Instances are 
to be found where life is sustained upon a wholly vegetable, a wholly 
animal, and a mixed diet. The mixed diet, however, may be regarded as 
that which, in the plan of nature, is designed for man's subsistence. It 
is upon this that he^ppears to attain the highest state of physical devel- 
opment and intellectual vigor. It is this which, certainly in temperate 
climates, he is led to consume by general inclination, when circumstances 
allow the inclination to guide him; and, lastly, it is this which stands in 
conformity with the construction of his teeth and the anatomy of his 
digestive apparatus in general. 

Notwithstanding- these considerations there are those — but few in 
number, it is true — who contend that vegetable food alone is best adapted 
to meet our requirements. Under the style of vegetarians,* they act 

* Payen (Substances Alimentaires, 4me cd. , p. 561. Paris, 1865), after expressing 
himself in condemnation of restriction to vegetable products, says: " Cependant en 
Angleterre, ce pays des excentricibes, oil Ton voit une belle et progressive civilisation 
marcher dans presque toutes les directions avec quelque accompagnement de barbaric, 
une secte nombreuse tend a exclure la chair des animaux du regime alimentaire de la 
population ; elle prcche d'exemple et fait quelques proselytes." 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 315 

upon the principle they profess. It is true that vegetable food, with its 
large proportion of non-nitrogenous matter, yields, in a simple and direct 
manner, according to the views now entertained and fully discussed in 
an earlier part of this work, the requisites for force- as well as heat-pro- 
duction; and, in order to show that vegetable food is better adapted 
than animal for contributing- to the performance of muscular work, refer- 
ence has been made to our beasts of burden, which, as is well known, be- 
long almost exclusively to the herbivorous tribe. That carnivorous ani- 
mals, however, are not unsuited for such purpose is proved in the case of 
dogs, which, in some northern and other countries, are very extensively 
employed for the performance of work. To regard man's maintenance 
too closely in association with the mere performance of mechanical work 
— to look upon him, in other words, as though he were solely designed 
for the conversion of food into mechanical power, is not, it may be also 
said, taking a high view of his position. 

Vegetarians, however, as has been remarked, are by no means numer- 
ous. Indeed, the prevailing tendency, certainly in the England of the 
present day, is to give an undue weight to the value of animal food, and 
this has been encouraged by the teachings of Liebig regarding the origin 
of muscular power — teachings which, during the last few years, have 
been shown to be untenable. 

Many people seem to look upon meat almost as though it formed the 
only food that really nourished and supplied what is wanted for work. 
The physician is constantly coming across an expression of this view. 
Undoubtedly a greater feeling of satiety is produced by meat than by 
other food. It forms a greater stay to the stomach, but this arises from 
the stomach constituting the seat of its digestion, and a longer time being 
occupied before it passes on and leaves the organ in an empty condition. 

Against those who think that a large consumption of meat is a sine 
qua non for the maintenance of health and strength, the experience of 
vegetarians may be adduced. In the effects of the Scotch prison diet- 
aries corroborative testimony is afforded. Dr. J. B. Thomson, for in- 
stance, resident surgeon to the General Prison for Scotland, writing in 
the Medical Times and Gazette, vol. i., 1868, speaks in favor, from ten 
years' experience, of a diet into which meat entered very sparingly, and 
which contained instead a moderate amount of milk. He says since the 
employment of the improved dietaries sanctioned by the Secretary of 
State in 1854, the dietary in the General Prison for Scotland for all adult 
male prisoners, under sentence of nine, and not exceeding twenty-four 
months, had consisted of bread, oatmeal, barley, 1 oz. of meat per diem, 
made into soup, with succulent vegetables, and 20 oz. of skimmed or but- 
ter milk. One day in the week fish had been substituted for the soup. 
The health of the prisoners had been uniformly good. Weighing on ad- 
mission and liberation had been carried out, and 88 per cent, were found 
to have gained or maintained their weight. Again, as shown by one of 
Dr. E. Smith's reports, it is not uncommon to find, amongst the agricul- 
tural laborers of Scotland, that no meat is consumed, oatmeal and milk 
forming the staple articles of diet. Further, Dr. Guy,* from his observa- 
tions in the case of English prisons, gives as one of his deductions, "that we 
possess conclusive evidence of the sufficiency of a diet from which meat is 
wholly excluded, and even of a diet consisting wholly of vegetable matter." 

* On Sufficient and Insufficient Dietaries, with especial reference to the Dietaries 
of Prisoners: Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. xxvi , p. 280. 1863. 



816 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

I have introduced these particulars, not for the purpose of showing 
that a diet without meat is to be considered desirable, but for streno-then- 
ing the argument that the consumption of meat to the extent that many- 
persons believe necessary for the maintenance of health and strength is 
not in reality so. It has been before stated that physiological consider- 
ations point to a mixed diet as being most in harmony with our nature, 
and it may probably be considered that the most suitable admixture con- 
tains about one-fourth, or rather more, of animal food. With more ani- 
mal food than this, the excretory organs are unnecessaril}'- taxed, and the 
system exposed to contamination with impurities, for the nitrogen of the 
superfluous nitrogenous matter has to be eliminated, and is found to es- 
cape, in combination with other elements, under the form of certain ex- 
cretory products, without having contributed to any useful purpose. A 
defective transformative and eliminative action will lead to a retention of 
the products of metamorphosis of this superfluous nitrogenous matter in 
the system, and there is reason to believe that gouty affections, and other 
morbid states, are sometimes induced in this way. 

It has been pointed out, under the head of " Principles of Dietetics " 
(vide p. 303), how an admixture of animal and vegetable food is better 
fitted to yield what is wanted than either consumed alone. It is assumed 
that, for a man of medium stature and in moderate work, about 300 grains 
of nitrogen and 4,800 grains of carbon are daily required to be introduced 
into the system with the food. Now, this is yielded, as nearly as possi- 
ble, in the case of both elements, by 2 pounds of bread and f pound of 
meat — that is, 44 ounces of solid food, of which about one-fourth consists 
of animal matter. If the lean of meat only were consumed (for the proper 
adjustment could equally be made with meat and fat), rather over 6 
pounds would be needed to furnish the requisite amount of carbon, and 
there would be a very large surplus of nitrogen; whilst if bread only were 
taken, the amount necessary to supply the requisite quantity of nitrogen 
would be rather more than 4 pounds, and this contains nearly double the 
amount of carbon demanded. 

Whilst speaking of the proper food for man it may be stated that, for 
the perfect and prolonged maintenance of health, it is necessary that a 
portion of what is consumed should be in the fresh state. This applies 
to both animal and vegetable kinds of food. Neither one nor the other 
in a salted, cured, or dried state will serve to keep the body in health. 
Former experience has but too painfully shown that disease and death 
are induced by withholding all fresh articles of food. There may be no 
lack of quantity, and yet the body shall fail to be maintained in a proper 
state. Affections of the scorbutic class are produced, which are only to 
be checked and removed by the supply of some kind of fresh food, or, 
what has been found to equally answer the purpose, the juice of some kind 
of succulent vegetable or fruit. The efficacy of lemon and lime juice, for 
instance, is well known in the cure and prevention of scurvy. 



DIETETIC RELATIONS AND EFFECTS OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE 

FOOD COMPARED. 

Animal food, being identical in composition with the structures to be 
built up and maintained, contains neither more nor less than what is re- 
quired for the growtli and renovation of the body. It might be assumed 
from this relation that nutrition upon a supply of animal food would be 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 317 

carried on in a more simple way than nutrition upon vegetable food, where 
no such identity is observable, and which contains various principles, 
such as lignine, cellulose, starch, etc., which have no existence in the 
animal body. Nutrition, however, is not effected in this simple manner. 
With animal as well as with vegetable food, a transformation has to take 
place before absorption can occur. 

It was shown by Mulder, and confirmed by Liebig, that the nitrogen- 
ous alimentary principles of the vegetable agree in composition with those 
of the animal kingdom, and it has been ascertained by physiologists that 
all alike undergo metamorphosis under the influence of the digestive pro- 
cess into a certain product, which is characterized by the possession of 
properties, viz., those of great solubility and diffusibility, that specially 
adapt it for transmission by absorption from the alimentary canal into 
the blood-vessels, by which it is conveyed to organs that elaborate and 
convert it into the nitrogenous principles existing in and applied to the 
purposes of the system. Thus, we elaborate for ourselves the constituent 
nitrogenous principles of our bodies out of a certain product of digestion, 
instead of deriving them directly from our food, and this brings alimen- 
tation, as far as these principles are concerned, to the same position, 
whether upon animal or vegetable products. There is only this differ- 
ence to be noted — that animal nitrogenous substances appear to be more 
easily digested than vegetable. 

With fats the same process occurs, whether they are of animal or 
vegetable origin; but, as with nitrogenous substances, it is believed that 
animal fats are more easy of digestion or preparation for absorption than 
veo^etable. 

Nitrogenous substances and fats may be said to comprise the organic 
portion of animal food. In vegetable food we encounter, besides, such 
principles as starch, sugar, gum, lignine, and cellulose, which belong to 
the group of carbohydrates. The two latter of these are scarcely, if at 
all, susceptible of any digestion, certainly by the human digestive organs, 
and, therefore, simply traverse the alimentary canal, and add to the bulk 
of the alvine dejections. The others are susceptible of utilization, and 
what digestion is required is, as in the case also of fat, carried on in the 
intestine, and not in the stomach. The physiological application of these 
principles, which are peculiar to vegetable food, has previously received 
attention, and need not be adverted to here. 

Although animal food certainly taxes the stomach more than the or- 
dinary forms of vegetable food that we consume, as is well known by 
those who have weak digestive power, yet, taking digestion and assimila- 
tion as a whole, a more complex process has to be gone through where 
vegetable food has to be dealt with. Accordingly we notice that the di- 
gestive apparatus of the herbivora is developed upon a more extended 
scale than in the carnivora. The difference, for instance, in the length of 
the intestinal canal is exceedingly marked, and, as already mentioned, it 
is especially here where the digestion of the principles that preponderate 
in vegetable products occurs. A portion of the large intestine, also, 
known as the cnecum, which is not developed in the carnivora to any par- 
ticular extent, attains, in many of the herbivora, enormous dimensions, 
and it can scarcely be doubted that this is designed for affording some 
kind of extra assistance in the digestive process. 

Looked at now in relation to their effects upon the system, there are 
several points that call for consideration. 

It is asserted by Lehmann that animal food increases the amount of 



318 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

fibrine in the blood, and also raises the amount of the phosphates and of 
the salts generally. A diet abounding in animal food appears also to ren- 
der the blood richer in red corpuscles. 

Animal food, with its preponderance of nitrogenous matter, tends to 
produce firmness of muscle with an absence of superfluous fat. Vege- 
table food, on the other hand, tends to increase the deposition of fat. 
Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert found in their experiments that animals con- 
suming food containing an excessive quantity of nitrogenous matter 
showed a greater disposition to increase in frame and flesh. If we direct 
our attention to the animals around us, it is open to common observation 
to notice that vegetable feeders show a greater proneness to become fat 
than animal feeders. The animals we fatten all belono- to the herbivora, 
and even dogs and cats become fatter on vegetable food — a proof that it 
is more the nature of the food than the kind of animal that makes the 
difference. Mr. Banting found that limiting his supply of vegetable food 
enabled him to reduce his corpulence, and it is upon the application of 
this principle that the system of '' Bantingism " rests. 

It appears from the experiments of Pettenkofer and Voit that increas- 
ing the proportion of nitrogenous matter in the food determines an in- 
creased absorption of oxygen by the lungs. Nitrogenous matter it is 
which starts the changes occurring in the system, and the suggestion pre- 
sents itself that upon the amount of nitrogenous matter may to some ex- 
tent depend the application of oxygen to the oxidation of fatt\' matter. 
Under this view the success of Mr. Banting's system may be due, not ex- 
clusively to a restriction of the principles that tend to produce fat, but in 
part, also, to an increased oxidizing action promoted by the large amount 
of nitrogenous matter consumed. 

It has been observed that the amount of urine secreted is notably in- 
fluenced by the nature of the food. Bischoff and Voit noticed, in the 
case of the dog, that, upon giving a liberal supply of meat after the 
animal had been previously subsisting upon vegetable food, the urine was 
greatly increased in quantity. A striking example is also afforded by a 
series of experiments by Mr. Savory upon rats.* Three pairs of rats that 
had been fed upon wheat were placed, one pair upon non-nitrogenous 
food, a second pair upon lean meat, and the third pair upon mixed food. 
The urine was collected for the twenty-four hours upon three occasions, 
at intervals of a week, and each time the urine associated with the meat 
diet was in very large excess of what it had been previously, and of that 
derived from the other animals. The amount of nitrogenous m.atter 
passed, in accordance with what might have been expected from the re- 
sults that have been referred to in a previous part of this work, bore a 
corresponding relation, and it may be that the two stand in the position 
of cause and effect. The effete nitrogenous matter, in escaping, may 
carry with it a flow of water. The extra quantity of water eliminated 
was met by an extra quantity of fluid consumed. 

Besides the influence just referred to on the amount of urine, the 
solid matter is likewise, to a marked extent, influenced by the nature 
of the food. There is a well-known augementation in urea, etc., pro- 
duced by the ingestion of animal food, and, at the same time, an increase 
in the sulphates and phosphates. The reaction of the urine is also modi- 
fied. Under an animal diet it is strongly acid, whilst a vegetable diet 
disposes to alkalinity. During fasting, it is true, the urine of the her- 

* Lancet, vol. i., p. 418, 18C3. 



PE ACTIO AL DIETETICS. 319 

bivora is acid, but after food its reaction is alkaline. Bernard* has di- 
lated upon this point, which must be regarded as being of considerable 
importance with reference to the therapeutic employment of food. He 
mentions an experiment upon himself, in which, from previously present- 
ing a strongly acid reaction, his urine was rendered alkaline in the course 
of twenty-four hours by restriction to a vegetable diet. In the sucking 
calf, as in the carnivora, the urine is acid, whilst it afterward assumes 
the character belonging to the herbivora. 

Animal food appeases hunger more thoroughly than vegetable, and 
satisfies longer. In other words, it gives, as general experience will con- 
firm, greater stay to the stomach. It also exerts a greater stimulating 
effect upon the system generally. Accounts are related of the stimulant 
properties of animal food having sufficed, in certain instances, as after 
starvation and in those accustomed only to a vegetable diet, to produce a 
state resembling intoxication. Dr. Dundas Thompson f quotes a narrative 
of the effects of a repast of meat on some native Indians, whose cus- 
tomary fare, as is usual amongst the tribe, had consisted only of vege- 
table food. " They dined most luxuriously, stuffing themselves as if they 
were never to eat again. After an hour or two, to his [the traveller's] 
great surprise and amusement, the expression of their countenances, 
their jabbering and gesticulations, showed clearly that the feast had pro- 
duced the same effect as any intoxicating spirit or drug. The second 
treat was attended with the same result." 

Dr. Druitt, in describing the properties of a liquid essence of beef,J 
which had been prepared according to his instructions, speaks of it as ex- 
erting a rapid and remarkable stimulating power over the brain, and in- 
troduced it to notice as an auxiliary to, and partial substitute for, brandy, 
in all cases of great exhaustion or weakness, attended with cerebral de- 
pression or despondency. Correspondingly stimulating properties have 
also been recognized as an effect of the copious employment of Liebig's 
Extractum Carnis. 

The general character of an animal is related to its food. Liebig says § 
it is essentially their food which makes carnivorous animals in general 
bolder and more combative than the herbivora which are their prey. "A 
bear kept at the Anatomical Museum of Giessen showed a quiet, gentle 
nature, as long as he was fed exclusively on bread, but a few days' feed- 
ing on meat made him vicious and even quite dangerous. That swine 
grow irascible by having flesh food given them is well known — so much 
so, indeed, that they will then attack men." 

It must be considered as a part of the plan of Nature that this relation 
shouM exist. It need not be that the animal food Drives orio-in to the fero- 
city, but that the ferocity exists to enable the animal to obtain its food. 
In the case where a bloodhound is rendered dangerous by being fed upon 
flesh, and also in Liebig's citation, the result need not be attributable to 
the food otherwise than by the taste of it arousing the natural instinct of 
the animal. 



* Physiologie Experimentale, tome ii. , p. 459. Paris, 1856. 

f Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals, p. 24. London, 1846. 

X Trans, of the Obstetrical Society, vol. iii, , p. 143, 1861. 

I Lancet, vol. i., p. 186, 1869. 



320 A TREATISE OK FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



PROPER AMOUNT OF FOOD. 

♦ The amount of food required depends upon the existing circumstances. 
No fixed quantity can be given as suited to all cases. Variation in ex- 
ternal temperature, the amount of work performed, and individual pecu- 
liarities, occasion a variation in the amount of material consumed in the 
body; and in a properly arranged diet the food should be adjusted ac- 
cordingly. For this adjustment Nature has provided by the instinct or 
sensation with which we are endowed. Appetite, or, in its more exalted 
character, hunger, apprises us that food is required, and produces an irre- 
sistible desire to seek and obtain its supply. By attending to its dictates a 
knowledge is also afforded of the proper amount to be consumed. We may 
ascertain by observation the precise amount by weight that is necessary 
to keep the body in a properly nourished condition, but Nature's guide 
was in operation before weights and scales were invented. Speaking of 
the natural state, it is only where the strict margin, on the score of econ- 
omy, as in the feeding of large bodies of men, has to be regarded, that a 
process of weighing need be employed. 

In taking appetite as a guide in regulating the supply of food, it must 
not be confounded with a desire to gratify the palate. When food is not 
eaten too quickly and the diet is simple, a timely warning is aiforded by 
the sense of satisfaction experienced as soon as enough has been taken; 
and not only does a disinclination arise, but the stomach even refuses to 
allow this point to be far exceeded. With a variety of food, however, 
and especially food of an agreeable character to the taste, the case is dif- 
ferent. Satiated with one article, the stomach is still ready for another, 
and thus, for the gratification of taste, and not the appeasement of appe- 
tite, men are tempted to consume far more than is required, and also, it 
must be said, often far more than is advantageous to health. 

Whatever the precise immediate cause of the sensation constituting 
appetite, the source of it is a want of solid matter in the system. Now, 
this want will vary with the consumption going on, which is greater under 
exposure to cold and during the performance of work than under oppo- 
site conditions; and in harmony therewith it is noticeable that the appe- 
tite is sharpened and diminished accordingly. The dictates thus afforded 
should be obeyed. They are not likely to be disregarded when the appe- 
tite is increased, and they should likewise be complied with when it is di- 
minished. Concern is sometimes experienced at the falling off of the 
appetite that occurs during the heat of summer in our own climate, and 
that is noticed by Europeans on visiting the tropics, and attempts are 
sometimes made to counteract it by the employment of condiments'of a 
stimulating nature to the stomach. This, however, is clearly an error, 
and one which is calculated to lead to baneful results, as in other instances 
where Nature's indications are set aside in favor of artificial devices. 

Thirst is an expression of the want of liquid in the system as hunger 
is of that of solids. It leads us to adjust the supply to the demand aris- 
ing from the loss that has been sustained. 

Under the head of Principles of Dietetics reference has been made 
{vide p. 291 et seq.) to the amount of food found by observation to be 
consumed by various classes of persons. As already mentioned, no fixed 
amount can be given as suited to all individuals and conditions. In 
Moleschott's representation of a model diet [vide p. 288) the daily quantity 
of food, estimated in a water-free or anhydrous state, amounts to about 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 321 

23 ounces. To represent the amount of food in the ordinary state to which 
this corresponds, we must allow for the water present. According to the 
table at p. 291 bread contains 37 per cent, of water, cooked meat 54 per 
cent., and vegetables upward of 70 per cent. Say the food consumed 
contained 45 per cent, of water — probably a low estimate — the 23 ounces 
of water-free material would correspond to 45 ounces of ordinary food. 
For people engaged in laborious occupations, judging from Playf air's 
tables of the food actually consumed, this is evidently none too much, and 
is even under the amount actually consumed by many. For people, how- 
ever, who lead a sedentary and in-door mode of life considerably less will 
suffice. I find from observation of my own diet, my height being rather 
over 5 feet 9 inches, and weight rather more than 10 stone, that 30 ounces 
fully cover what I ordinarily consume, the food consisting of the usual 
admixture of animal and vegetable articles, and being weighed in the state 
in which it is placed on the table; 8 ounces for breakfast, 6 for luncheon, 
and 16 for dinner, give me the outside of what I feel I require. 

The middle diet at Guy's Hospital — the diet on which the majority of 
the patients are placed — gives a mean daily allowance of 29^ ounces of 
solid food, apart from the liquids supplied. Taking solids and liquids 
together, and calculating from the composition of the articles according 
to the table at p. 291, the water-free material amounts to 16| ounces. 
The food actually supplied consists of 4 ounces of meat in the cooked 
state, 12 ounces of bread, 8 ounces of potatoes, 1 ounce of butter, f ounce 
of sugar, ^ ounce of tea, and — say 3|- ounces (8 ounces three times a week 
Is the exact quantity) of rice pudding made of rice, sugar, and milk. Be- 
sides this solid food there is a daily allowance of half a pint of porter and 
2^ ounces of milk, with half a pint of mutton broth when boiled meat is 
given, which is four times a week. Experience shows this diet to be suffi- 
cient for bodily maintenance under a condition of freedom from labor. A 
conclusion may be drawn, as the subsistence on it often extends over a 
considerable period, and amongst the inmates there are many in an ordi- 
nary state so far as their constitutional condition is concerned, some local 
complaint, unaffecting their general health, having led to their admission^ 

Besides treating of the gross amount of food, attention must be given 
to the' relative proportion of the constituent alimentary principles. Un- 
less these are so related as to be adjusted to the demands of the system,, 
more food is required to be taken than would otherwise be the case, and 
waste is the result. As a deduction from a review of the dietaries referred 
to in a preceding part of this work {vide p. 292 et seq.), the following sum- 
mary account may be given of the respective amounts of the alimentary 
principles required. The table furnished at p. 291 will supply the means 
for determining the constitution of a given diet in respect of alimentary 
principles. 

The nitroofenous matter should constitute about one-fifth of the water- 
free food, and, under medium conditions, from 4 to 5 oz, may be looked 
upon as the quantity that should be supplied daily. With an inactive 
life much less will suffice, viz. 3 or 3^ oz. In Playfair's subsistence-diet 
(p. 292) the quantity is rather under 2^ oz. Exposure to hard work leads, 
judging from observation, to the instinctive consumption of food yielding 
a full supply of nitrogenous matter. In some of the collected dietaries 
the nitrogenous matter amounts to from 5 to 6 oz. 

It has been mentioned that about one-fifth of the water-freed food 
should consist of nitrogenous matter, and this, in the case of bread and 
meat, is afforded by an admixture of about one part of animal with three 
21 



322 



A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



parts of vegetable material. Now, such an admixture, as before shown 
(p. 302), is also that which is adjusted to replace without waste the car- 
bon and nitrogen passing out of the system. It was pointed out that if 
bread alone, or meat alone, were consumed, in order to supply the re- 
quisite quantity of both elements, a considerable waste of either one or 
the other would in each case ensue, because in the articles of food taken 
separately they are not in the proper proportion to balance the loss oc- 
curring. For example, 2 pounds of bread and f pound of lean uncooked 
beef contain, as nearly as possible, the amounts of carbon and nitrogen 
represented as escaping from the body under average circumstances. 
In this admixture, amounting to 44 oz., the meat (12 oz.) forms, with 
only a slight excess, a fourth of the whole; and if we look to the com- 
position of it, we find that in a water-free state about one-fifth consists 
of nitrogenous matter. The following representation of the amounts of 
the alimentary principles contained in it, calculated from the table fur- 
nished at p. 291, will be seen to bear out this statement. 



Mtrogenous matter, 
Pat, . . . . , 
Carbohydrates, . 
Mineral matter, . 



Bread 2 lbs. 



Oz. 
2.692 

0.512 

16.320 

0.736 



Lean beef % lb. 
uncooked. 



Oz. 

2.316 
0.432 

0.612 



Total. 



Oz. 

4.908 

0.944 

16.320 

1.348 

23.520 



It may be noticed, further, that the composition of these 2 pounds of 
bread and f pound of meat agrees pretty closely with that of the model 
diet of Moleschott (p. 287), framed upon grounds of quite a different na- 
ture. The whole difference of any account is in the respective amounts 
of fats and carbohydrates; but what is deficient in the one is balanced 
by a surplus in the other, and, in an alimentary point of view, the two 
are capable, to a certain extent, of replacing each other. 

Fat appears to influence favorably the assimilation of the other prin- 
ciples, and to be intimately concerned in tissue formation and nutrition, 
besides contributing to force production; and it is believed that a defi- 
ciency of it in the food is sometimes the source of the development of 
the scrofulous and strumous states. The supply, it may be considered, 
ought not to be less, even with inactivity, than one ounce daily, and the 
composition of dietaries usually shows considerably more. About %\ oz. 
appears to form the average amount in tlie diets of various working 
classes. 

The carbohydrates may be looked upon as forming a supplementary 
group of principles. They have no existence in an animal diet, and in a 
mixed diet should be in such quantity as to fill up what is defective for 
force-production — heat and mechanical work — in the other principles. 
Looking at the various dietaries of mixed food to which the attention of 
the reader has been already directed, and leaving out of consideration 
the lowest or subsistence diet, the supply of carbohydrates is seen to 
lange in amount from between 14 and 15 to 22 oz. per diem. 

The amount of mineral matter required may be set down at from J oz. 
to 1 oz. daily. 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 323 

"Water is needed beyond that contained in our food. It may be 
reckoned that we receive from about 15 to 25 oz. of fluid into the system 
mixed with the solid food that is consumed; and besides this, it is advis- 
able that about 60 to 70 oz., or even in some cases more, should be taken. 
The average amount of urine passed daily may be said to be about 50 
oz., and there is a considerable loss of fluid from the skin and the lungs. 
To meet these sources of elimination, compensation must be effected by 
a corresponding ingestion, and, as long as the fluid taken is devoid of 
noxious properties, a free supply must be regarded as beneficial, form- 
ing, as it does, a means of carrying off impurities from the system. Per- 
haps the benefit derivable from a course of water-treatment is often, in a 
great measure, due to this cause. I am strongly inclined to think so. 

Having spoken of the proper amount of food, let me next direct at- 
tention to the effects produced by a deficiency and excess in its supply. 
I may commence by saying that there is far more evil to be encountered 
attributable to too much food being taken than to too little. It is only 
in exceptional cases that the latter kind is met with; whilst the amount 
of disorder, disease, and likewise even curtailment of life, attributable to 
excess in eating and drinking is immeasurably great. Where the living- 
is plain and simple, and the dictates of Nature are followed, there is no 
need for weights and scales; but how many are there who would not be 
in an infinitely better state if they lived upon a weighed and measured 
allowance of food and drink! Seeking for what is pleasurable instead of 
natural, the promptings of instinct are overruled, and it is the inclination 
instead of appetite that regulates what is consumed. Were it not for 
the temptation to exceed, induced by the refinements of the culinary art, 
the physician's aid would be much more rarely required. 

Amono'st the effects arisino- from excess in feedino- may be mentioned 

O <zj O •. 

an oppressed stomach, deranged digestion, a loaded tongue, vitiated 
secretions, with disordered action of the bowels, a gorged liver, obesity, 
plethora and its consequences, a sluggish brain and troubled sleep, sur- 
charged urine, leading to deposits, perv^erted nutrition from the preter- 
natural accumulation of products of disintegration in the system, and, as 
a concomitant, gouty and rheumatic affections. Such, and others too, 
are the ills arisino- from over-feedino-. Excess in animal food is worse 
than excess in vegetable food, especially when combined with sedentary 
habits. It is true, vegetable food especially leads to the production of obe- 
sity, and this may amount to such as to constitute a serious evil, but, being 
less charged with nitrogenous matter, there is less of the nitrogenous pro- 
ducts of disintegration for elimination — products which unless oxidized and 
metamorphosed to a full extent by free exercise, and so placed in a favor- 
able position for discharge, are apt to accumulate in the system, and 
thence impair the performance of the functional operations of life. Some 
of the phenomena of gout, for example, are due to this defective meta- 
morphosis and retention of nitrogenous products within the system. 

The effects of privation and insufficiency of food constitute the well- 
known phenomena comprised under the terms inanition and starvation. 
As we can have no manifestation of vital properties without chemical 
change, a consumption of material must be constantly going on, and, un- 
less a supply equal to the loss is provided, a progressive wasting of the 
body and failure of its powers must ensue. These, therefore, form the 
necessary concomitants of starvation, and it is only a question of time for 
the exhaustion of material to proceed to a point sufficient to render the 
continuance of life impossible. 



324 A TREATISE ON EOOD AND DIETETICS. 

From the elaborate series of experiments performed by Chossat,* it 
has been shown that the immediate cause of death from starvation is a 
decline of the animal temperature. He found during the first portion of 
the period a gradual, but not very extensive, fall. Then it diminished 
more rapidly, and v^hen it reached about 29° or 30° (Fahr.) below the 
normal point the animal died. A state of torpor preceded death, and it 
was noticed by Chossat that when this stage was reached a restoration of 
consciousness and muscular power could be effected by exposing the sub- 
ject of experiment to artificial warmth, and thereby raising its tempera- 
ture. Some of his animals were thus rescued from impending death, and 
afterward completely restored by supplying them with food. In fact, the 
operations of life can only be carried on — that is, in the case of ourselves 
and other warm-blooded animals — within a certain range of temperature, 
and if from any cause, either external or internal, this range is passed, no 
matter whether on the side of excess or deficiency, death is the inevitable 
consequence. 

The usual length of time that life continues under complete abstinence 
from food and drink may be put down at from eight to ten days. Longer 
periods, however, in exceptional instances, have been noticed, and the 
duration, indeed, is liable to be influenced by the surrounding circum- 
stances, such as the amount of available material accumulated in the sj'^s- 
tem at the commencement of starvation, the surrounding temperature, and 
the state of the atmosphere as regards the amount of moisture present. 

It will be readily understood that, other circumstances being equal, the 
greater the amount of combustible material to draw upon, the longer will 
the capacity exist for maintaining the heat of the body, and with it life. 
An instructive instance bearing upon this point is afforded by the fat pig 
referred to at p. 58. In Ohossat's experiments the animals provided with 
most fat lived the longest, and it was, moreover, found that they lived 
until the fat was nearly exhausted. It seemed, indeed, as though the 
approach of death was coincident with the consumption of nearly all the- 
disposable combustible material. The animals lost, on an average, about 
40 per cent, in weight — in other words, about two-fifths of their original 
weight disappearing — before the occurrence of death. In the case of the- 
fat of the body, taken alone, the loss amounted to upward of 90 per cent.. 
The waste of this material, it was found, far exceeded that of any other. 

As regards the surrounding temperature, it is a well-known fact that 
exposure to cold in conjunction with starvation very much accelerates- 
death. 

The presence of moisture in the atmosphere to some extent favors the- 
prolongation of life, and evidently by diminishing the exhalation of water 
from the body. Persons, for instance, have been excavated alive after- 
confinement in a mine, or have continued alive whilst placed under such- 
like circumstances, for periods considerably longer than the usual time. 

In the absence of both food and drink, the distress from thirst is far- 
greater than that from hunger. With access to water and a very small 
supply of food, life may be prolonged for an extensive period. 

The Welsh fasting girl, about whom so much excitement prevailed in 
1869, lived exactly eight days from the time that she was placed under- 
systematic inspection. The supply of food under which, it may be as- 
sumed, she had for some time previously subsisted had, doubtless, been 
very irregular and scanty, but then she lay in bed and passed her time in 

* Recherches Experimentales sur I'Inanition. Paris, 1843. 



PKACTICAL DIETETICS. 325 

a perfectly quiescent state — conditions that would diminish, to the fullest 
extent, the waste or consumption of material. The deception was so suc- 
cessfully carried out, and it was so stoutly affirmed by the parents of the 
girl that she had existed for many weeks without touching food, that 
many believed it as a fact, and she was daily visited by numbers of per- 
sons from far and near. So much wonder and excitement did the case 
create, that it was ultimately arranged to place the girl under such super- 
vision as would secure that no access to food existed. The problem, in 
reality, that was thus systematically arranged to solve was tantamount to 
whether a fire could continue to burn without being replenished with fuel. 
The watching commenced at 4- p.m. on Thursday, December the 9th, and 
the girl died at 3 p.m. on Friday, the 17tli. She was cheerful, and noth- 
ing extraordinary presented itself during the first part of the period. As 
time advanced, it was found that she could not be kept warm. She then 
sank into a state of torpor from which she could not be roused. This oc- 
curred only a short time before death. 

The most prominent symptoms of starvation, says Dr. Carpenter,* as 
they have been noted in the human subject, are as follows: In the first 
place, severe pain in the epigastrium, which is relieved on pressure; this 
subsides after a day or two, but is succeeded by a feeling of weakness 
and sinking in the same region; and an insatiable thirst supervenes, which, 
if water be withheld, thenceforth becomes the most distressing symptom. 
The countenance becomes pale and cadaverous; the eyes acquire a pecu- 
liar wild and glistening stare; a general emaciation soon manifests itself. 
The body then exhales a peculiar fetor, and the skin is covered with a 
brownish, dirty-looking, and offensive secretion. The bodily strength rap- 
idly declines; the sufferer totters in walking; his voice becomes weak, 
and he is incapable of the least exertion. The mental powers exhibit a 
similar prostration; at first there is usually a state of stupidity, which 
gradually increases to imbecility, so that it is difficult to induce the suf- 
ferer to make any effort for his own benefit; and on this a state of mani- 
acal delirium frequently supervenes. Life terminates, either calmly, by 
gradually increasing torpidity, or as occasionally happens, suddenly, in a 
convulsive paroxysm. 

In many respects the effects on the brain have a close resemblance to 
those produced by exposure to cold. In consequence of the torpor of the 
brain and intellectual faculties, it is often difficult to obtain from the suf- 
ferer information regarding his state. Instead of showing any anxiety 
to communicate the particulars about himself, or to relate the priva- 
tions he has undergone, he generally shows an unwillingness to be ques- 
tioned, lies in a listless or lethargic state, taking but little notice of what 
is going on, and seeming desirous only of not being disturbed. It is of 
the deepest importance that such symptoms should be recognized by the 
medical practitioner in their proper light, and that they should not be 
mistaken for the effects of narcotism produced by drinking. 

Sudden transitions are always prejudicial, and where abstinence has 
prevailed for some days the return to a supply of food should be prac- 
tised with caution. At first the supply should be very limited, and then 
gradually increased. There is reason to believe that death, which might 
otherwise have been averted, has been, in some instances, occasioned by 
the too free ingestion of food and fluid when succor has been obtained. 
The system should have time to accommodate itself to the new condition. 



Principles of Human Physiology, 4th ed. , p. 396. 



326 A TREATISE O^ FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

No matter whether a change be from the natural to the unnatural or 
from the unnatural to the natural state, it is always a sudden change that 
is especially difficult to be borne. 



TIMES OF EATING. 

Next to the quality and quantity of food, attention must be given 
to the mode of taking it. That the food should be taken with regularity, 
and at proper periods is almost as necessary for the maintenance of health 
and a vigorous state of the energies as that it should be of a proper na- 
ture and in proper quantity. Frequently recurring instances present 
themselves to the medical practitioner of evils arising from the non-ob- 
servance of the precepts that should be followed in reference to this 
point. 

We know that a certain amount of food is required to be consumed 
daily in order that the body may be properly maintained. Discarding for 
the moment the practices of mankind, let us look at the evidence that can 
be adduced to enable us to arrive at a rational determination of the man- 
ner in which it is best that our food should be taken. 

Carnivorous animals appear to thrive best upon food taken at long in- 
tervals. It is the custom in zoological menageries to feed the wild ani- 
mals once ^ day only, and it is stated that they have been found, by 
observation, to do better when fed in this way than upon the same allow- 
ance of food given to them twice daily. Now, if we look to the habits 
of these animals, we notice that their mode of existence entails the occur- 
rence of more or less protracted intervals between the times of feeding. 
Their supply is precarious and irregular, having to be captured as the 
opportunity presents itself, by the exercise of stealth and cunning. The 
food obtained is voraciously devoured to repletion, and then, from the 
heavy tax imposed upon the powers by the loaded state of the stomach, 
the animal remains for some time in a sluggish or inactive and drowsy 
condition. 

Such is the result where long intervals elapse between the periods of 
consumption of food. From the nature of the circumstances, it is a mat- 
ter of necessity with these animals that this should be their mode of 
feeding. There are those amongst mankind, however, who have been 
satisfied with one meal a day. But is it in conformit}^ with our nature 
that our food should be taken in this way ? In proportion to the length of 
the interval, so must be the amount of food consumed at one time, and in 
proportion to this so will be the degree and duration of the inaptitude 
for the performance of any bodily or mental work. The feast of the 
glutton places him for awhile in the position of the brute, that is by na- 
ture compelled to fill his stomach to repletion when the opportunity oc- 
curs. The monks of the monastery of La Trappe, near Nantes, says Dr. 
Combe, make it a part of their religion to eat only once a day. While 
travelling upon a French diligence journey, Dr. Combe was thrown in 
contact for three days with one of the order, and was surprised at the 
store of food consumed at each daily meal — a store appearing "sufficient 
to last a week instead of a day." But, as in the case of the boa constric- 
tor, under similar circumstances, remarks Dr. Combe, " a deep lethargy 
immediately succeeded, and it was not till four or five hours afterward 
that his almost apoplectic features became again animated and expres- 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 327 

Now, looking to our relation to the supply of food, which involves no 
necessity for protracted intervals between the times of eating, and to the 
fact that our mental capacity constitutes our characteristic attribute, and 
that this is notably blunted after repletion of the stomach to the extent 
incurred where only one meal a day is taken, we have physiological 
grounds for dismissing from consideration such a mode of life as unsuited 
to our position. 

With the vegetable feeders, we pass to an illustration of the other 
extreme. These animals, constantly within reach of their food as they 
are, pass a considerable portion of their time in feeding. We do not find 
that they gorge themselves at a repast so as to become placed in the same 
inactive condition as the carnivorous animal, but that they, instead, leis- 
urely and frequently partake of the food within their reach. 

Is this, it may next be asked, the mode of taking food that is adapted 
for mankind ? To consume what is eaten in small quantities and at fre- 
quently repeated intervals would, doubtless, serve our purpose so far as 
alimentation is concerned, but experience shows that it is not necessary, 
and much of our usefulness would be lost by the time devoted to the con- 
sumption of food. Indeed, as we are designed by Nature for a mixed 
diet, so it may be considered that the most appropriate mode of taking 
food is something between that adopted by the animal and the vege- 
table feeder; and this happens to accord with the general practice of the 
majority of nations. The prevailing custom — and, doubtless, this has 
arisen from instinct and from what has been found by experience to be 
best suited to our requirements — is for three meals of a substantial nature 
to be taken during the day, at intervals of about five or six hours' dura- 
tion. Observation has shown that an ordinary meal is digested and has 
passed on from the stomach in about four hours' time, and thus, accord- 
ing to the precept laid down, the stomach is allowed to remain for a short 
period in a state of quiescence before it is filled with food again. 

It is important that we should break our fast, or, as the term goes, 
" breakfast," without much delay after rising. The length of time that 
has elapsed since the last meal of the previous day leads to a demand for 
food for the ordinary purposes of life. The system, moreover, at a period 
of fasting — as experience has but too plainly, and it may be said, on some 
occasions, painfully testified — is more prone to be perniciously influenced 
by infection, miasmata, exposure to cold, and other morbid conditions, 
and less adapted for sustaining fatigue than at any other time. In any 
case, therefore, where exposure to influences of this kind has to be under- 
gone, it becomes of the deepest importance that food should be previously 
taken. 

The size of the meal should be regulated by collateral circumstances. 
If food has been taken late in the previous evening, the appetite is not 
great for food in the morning. Where considerable exertion has to be 
afterward sustained, a substantial meal may be looked upon as advis- 
able. Otherwise, however, a light meal will be found most conducive to 
health and activity. A maid of honor, it is stated, in the court of Eliza- 
beth, breakfasted upon beef and drank ale after it. Such may be com- 
patible with plenty of out-door exercise to carry off the meal, but not so 
with the in-door life which is led by so many of the present generation. 

Supposing breakfast to be taken at 8 or 9 a.m., the next meal, no 
matter by what name it is called, should follow about 1 or 2. A fairly 
substantial meal should be taken at this time, and it does not signify 
whether it goes under the name of luncheon or dinner. Some dine in the 



328 ' A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

middle of the day, and make this their heaviest repast. To many, how- 
ever, it is inconvenient to give up the amount of time that is usually de- 
voted to the principal meal of the day at such a period, and, moreover, 
the more or less marked disposition to inactivity that follows a heavy meal 
may interfere with the subsequent engagements. Under these circum- 
stances, the less ceremonious and lighter repast, designated luncheon, will 
best fall in with the daily arrangements. The dejeuner d la foiirchette 
in France represents our luncheon, but is usually more substantial and 
taken rather earlier, the amount of food that has been consumed pre- 
viously having been but slight. 

The error is often made of omitting to take food in the middle of the 
day, or of only taking biscuit or something of equal insignificance. There 
are many business or professional men who, after leaving home for their 
office or chambers in the morning, do not taste food, or, if they do, take 
only a minute quantity, until they return in the evening. Actively en- 
gaged all day, the system becomes exhausted, and they arrive home in a 
thoroughly jaded or worn-out condition. They expect that their dinner 
is to revive them. It may do so for a while, but it is only a question of 
time how long this system can be carried on before evil consequences 
arise. They begin to feel heavy, drowsy, and uncomfortable after din- 
ner, and no wonder from the amount of food that it has been necessary 
to introduce at one time into the stomach to supply the requisite mate- 
rial for meeting the wants of the S3'stem, and also from the exhaustion of 
power produced by the Avork performed and the long abstinence from 
food. Vigor is required for digestion equally as much as for muscular 
or any other action, and it is not to be expected that it can properly pro- 
ceed under the state that has been described. Added to these indica- 
tions that the digestive power is not equal to the amount of work thrown 
upon it, evidences of disordered action begin to show themselves. The 
sufferer becomes dyspeptic, and the heart and brain may sympathize with 
the derangement. The physician is frequently encountering instances of 
the description I have depicted; and when advice is given that food in 
proper quantity should be consumed in the middle of the day, the usual 
answer met with is that if a luncheon were taken it would have the effect 
of rendering the person unfit for his employment afterward. It is a sine 
qua non, however, that the interval should be broken by a repast between 
an early breakfast and a late dinner, and no medical treatment will suffice 
to afford relief unless attention is given to this point. When once the 
alteration has been made and persevered in a short time, as much reluc- 
tance will be felt in omitting the luncheon upon any single occasion as 
was experienced in taking it to begin with. Often, in cases where indi- 
gestion forms the chief complaint, will it be found to have arisen from 
some unwitting breach of the principles of dietetics, and thence it fre- 
quently happens that instruction on the dietetic precepts requiring to be 
obeyed for the maintenance of health will be all that is needed to set 
matters rigrht. 

When the middle of the day is allotted to dinner, the evening meal is 
designated supper, and as this is not usually taken till an advanced hour 
of the evening an intermediate light repast is generally introduced under 
the name of tea. A heavy supper, especially if taken only a short time 
before going to bed, is unquestionably bad. During sleep there is a di- 
minisiicd activity of all the bodily functions, and the condition is not fa- 
vorable for the due performance of digestion. He who retires to rest with 
a full stomach is fortunate if he escape passing a restless night, being 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 329 

troubled with dreams, and rising in the morning with a foul mouth. The 
supper, when supper at all is taken, should be, as far as practicable, made 
to approach to the early part of the evening — that is, supposing the usual 
hour for retiring to rest be observed; and where the engagements of life 
render such a course inconvenient, the meal should be light and a heavier 
tea consumed. 

The best arrangement for health is that the third substantial meal 
should be taken about six or seven in the evening — in other words, that 
breakfast, luncheon, and dinner should form the order observed. The 
opportunity is thus given for digestion to have approached completion 
before the night's sleep is begun. In fashionable society it is now com- 
mcm to find the dinner postponed till a later hour, bringing it, in fact, 
nearly to the old-fashioned period for supper. If the time of retiring to 
rest is proportionally late, as is usually the case, there is nothing seri- 
ously objectionable in the course adopted, but if early, the remark ap- 
plies with equal force that has been made under the head of supper. A 
dinner at eight or half-past eight, however, calls for an intermediate light 
repast, under the form of tea, to break the length of interval that would 
otherw^ise occur. But, besides being customary under these circum- 
stances for tea to be taken about five, fashion has led to its being also 
taken when the dinner hour is earlier, and against a simple cup of tea at 
this time nothing can be said. It serves to refresh, although it cannot 
be considered as needed. Temptation, however, is also offered to partake 
of food, and when this is done to any extent, it must be looked upon as 
pernicious, by impairing the appetite for one of the principal meals. 

After a late dinner, and with the observance of ordinary hours, no fur- 
ther food is required. The tea, therefore, which is generally taken after- 
ward, should be confined to liquid, and a cup of warm tea, coffee, or 
cocoa, has the effect of arousing the energies, and apparently also of 
favorably influencing digestion. 

The error of going to bed upon a full stomach has been alluded to. 
It is also equally unadvisable that the stomach should be in a perfectly 
empty condition. Fasting excites restlessness and watchfulness, and 
many a person has needlessly passed sleepless hours through retiring to 
rest after too long an interval since the last meal. The literary man, for 
example, who carries his labors far into the night, goes to bed with an 
empty stomach and finds that he cannot sleep. Let a little food, how- 
ever, be taken, and it will be found to exert a tranquillizing and comfort- 
ing effect, and so will dispose to sleep. 

I have been speaking of the meals adapted for a state of health. 
Three substantial meals — morning, mid-day, and evening — should be 
taken, and, unless the interval between one or the other be considerably 
prolonged, no intermediate repast of solid food is required. Indeed, it is 
not beneficial for a person to be constantly eating through the day. 
Some are in the habit of taking food at odd times between the meals, but 
such a practice is not to be upheld. Eating should be confined to the meals, 
otherwise a constant state of repletion is kept up, and the stomach has no 
opportunity of resting. In sickness, it is true, advantage is gained by 
the frequent administration of food, but then only a small quantity at a 
time can be taken. The stomach will not bear, or the invalid cannot 
take, more than a very limited amount at once; and to compensate for this, 
and enable a sufficiency to be ingested, more frequent administration is 
required. In proportion to the limited amount that can be taken at a 
time, so, it may be said, should be the frequency of administration. 



830 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Infants and young- children require food more frequently than grown- 
up persons. They dispose of what is taken more rapidly, and do not 
bear fasting well. Less lengthy intervals should therefore be allowed to 
elapse between the periods of eating. The best arrangement of meals 
for children that are a little older is — breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper: 
the supper consisting of light but nutritious food. A late dinner is to be 
strongly condemned. There are many children whose delicate health 
and feeble constitution is owing to the error of their parents in making 
them join in a late dinner. Instead of dining, say at seven or after, it 
would be better for them to be going to bed, and the evils of going to 
bed upon a heavy meal have already been adverted to. 

In connection with these remarks upon the times of taking food, I 
may refer to the following collateral points. 

A hearty meal should neither immediateh' follow nor precede violent 
exercise. In each case the stomach is rendered unfit for the vigorous 
discharge of its office. 

A hearty dinner taken in the evening after an unusual day's exertion 
is sure to be followed by more or less indigestion, and, it may be, vomit- 
ing. Sportsmen and pedestrians are acquainted by experience with this 
fact. The depression of general bodily power occasioned by the fatigue 
endured is incompatible with the possession of full energy by the stomach. 
By a little repose, however, time is given for the production of fresh 
power to raise the system from its previous state of exhaustion, and ren- 
der the stomach equal to the easy digestion of a moderate meal. 

The sensation experienced on undertaking any violent bodily exer- 
tion immediately after a hearty meal is sufficient to show that the task 
imposed is greater than the system is adapted for. With a loaded 
stomach, the fullest amount of energy that can be given is required to 
enable it to get through its work. We notice, indeed, under such cir- 
cumstances, that the energies are so concentrated upon what the stomach 
is doing that an indisposition, and even incapacity, for vigorous and sus- 
tained mental or bodily exertion is induced. Whilst after a light meal, 
muscular or mental work can with ease and comfort be performed, after 
a heavy meal an effort to accomplish it so diverts from the stomach the 
energy required of it as to occasion manifest signs of incapacity for the 
function to be discharged. The process of digestion fails to be carried 
on as it ought to be. The food remains longer than it should within the 
stomach, and ultimately, it may be, is rejected by vomiting. 

If sharp exercise after a hearty meal is to be avoided, is it desirable, it 
may be asked, to encourage the inclination for repose, and allow indul- 
gence in a siesta f A short and light nap after dinner will not be sufficient 
to do any harm, but if the nap is permitted to pass into a profound and 
a prolonged sleep, unquestionably a retarding influence is exercised upon 
digestion, and a prejudicial influence upon the stomach. However agree- 
able, therefore, it may be to gratify the desire for a nap, if there is 
danger of its passing into a lengthy and heavy sleep, it is well to have 
recourse to some light mental or bodily employment, wliether under the 
shape of one of the various games of amusement, as billiards, bagatelle, 
cards, chess, etc., or otherwise to obviate its occurrence. But, with a 
natural state of things, there ought to be no strong desire for sleep after 
a meal. If there be such, it may be concluded that some fault exists: 
either the meal has been excessive, in consequence of yielding to the 
gratification of the palate, or of eating largely to make up for a too pro- 
longed fast, or else the digestive power is below the healthy standard. 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 331 

A cheerful state of mind is conducive to the easy digestion of a meaL 
The influence exerted by states of the mind upon the appetite and diges- 
tion, as well as the nutrition of the body generally, is a matter of com- 
mon observation. A person receiving a piece of unwelcome intelligence 
just before the commencement of a repast may be unable to eat a mouth- 
ful, no matter what might have been the appetite previously. Henry VI.IL 
frowning upon Wolsey, and handing him papers notifying his disgrace, 
is made by Shakespeare to say — 

"Read o'er this ; 



And after this ; and then to breakfast with 
^ What appetite you have." 

" Experience," sa3's Dr. Combe,* " must have taught every one with 
what zest we sit down to enjoy the pleasures of the table, and how largely 
we incline to eat, when the mind is free, unburdened, and joyous, com- 
pared with the little attention we bestow on our meals when we are over- 
whelmed with anxiety, or have the whole energies of the mind concentrated 
on some important scheme." " Laughter," also says Hufeland, of Berlin, f 
"is one of the greatest helps to digestion with which I am acquainted; 
and the custom prevalent among our forefathers, of exciting it at table 
by jesters and buffoons, was founded on true medical principles. In a word, 
endeavor to have cheerful and merry companions at your meals; what 
nourishment one receives amidst mirth and jollity will certainly produce 
good and light blood." 



CULINARY PREPARATION OF FOOD. 

Several important purposes are fulfilled by the process of cooking. 
By it our food is rendered more pleasing to the eye, agreeable to the 
palate, and digestible by the stomach. We all know, for example, the 
influence exerted by the appearance presented by food — how, if pleasing 
to the eye, it becomes tempting to the palate, and, if revolting to the 
sight, the stomach may turn against it. Again, food which is savory — 
and cooking has the effect of developing flavor — excites the inclination in 
a manner peculiar to itself. Lastly, by the alterations it induces of a phy- 
sical and chemical nature, cooking renders our food more easy of diges- 
tion, and may remove an obnoxious property by killing parasites or their 
germs, where such exist. 

Cooking lessens cohesion and alters the texture in such a manner as 
to render a substance more easy of mastication and subsequent reduction 
to a fluid state by the stomach. 

The effect upon meat is to coagulate albumen and coloring matter; to 
solidify fibrine, and gelatinize tendinous, fibrous, and connective tissues. 
A piece of meat, for instance, which before cooking is tough, tenacious^ 
and stringy, so as to be insusceptible of proper mastication, has firmness 
or solidity given to the muscular fibres, whilst the connective tissue is 
transformed into a soft gelatinous material. The connective tissue being 
softened, the muscular fibres are loosened. Thus, the whole substance 
becomes less coherent, and is easily broken down by the application of 
pressure. It is thereby more digestible, for the digestibility of meat may 

* Physiology of Digestion, 2d ed., p. 300. Edinburgh, 1836. 

f Art of Prolonging Human Life, English ed., p. 382. London, 1829. 



332 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

be regarded as standing in proportion to its tenderness or want of cohesion. 
Tenderness and digestibility are influenced by the circumstances antece- 
dent to cooking. If ilesh, whether of hsh, fowl, or any other animal, be 
■cooked before rigor tnortis has set in, its texture is looser, and the article 
is thereby more easy of digestion than when cooked after this state has 
passed off. It is rare, however — seldom practicable indeed — for cooking 
to be performed at so early a period after death, and when the flesh has 
set, its tenderness and digestibility are increased by its being kept for a 
time. The flesh of an animal, also, which has been driven or hunted just 
prior to death is more tender and digestible than where it has been pre- 
viously quiescent. Bruising loosens the texture of meat, and makes it 
more tender when cooked: hence the advantage of the process of beating 
to which steaks and chops are, in many households, subjected. 

The effect of cooking upon vegetables is to soften their consistence, 
iind so allow them to be more readily masticated or broken up in the 
mouth. It also loosens their intercellular structure, and thereby facili- 
tates the penetration of digestive juices into their substance. It further 
.aids, in an important manner, digestibility, by its physical action on the 
:starch granule — an ingredient which enters more largely than any other 
into the constitution of veo-etable aliment. It causes this sTanule to 
svv^ell up, and its outer envelope to burst. The digestive fluids are thus 
permitted to come in contact with the central part. In the absence of 
this change, the starch granule is much less easily attacked, its outer 
covering being hard and offering considerable resistance to digestive 
action. Albuminous and fibrinous matters, as with those in meat, are 
<;oagulated; and, in the case of boiling, some of the gummy, saccharine, 
coloring, and saline matters are extracted. This occurs to a less extent 
when vegetables are boiled in hard water, or water impregnated with 
salt, than when boiled in soft water, but the article is, at the same time, 
less tender and dio;estible. The effect of a little salt added to the water 
in which vegetables are boiled in preserving their color, is well known to 
those versed in the economy of the kitchen, but the eye is pleased at the 
sacrifice of tenderness. 

The warmth imparted to food by the process of cooking aids the di- 
g;estive action of the stomach, and, where fatigue or exposure to cold has 
been sustained, exerts a reviving effect upon the system. 

With these observations of a general nature, I will now offer some 
remarks on the various modes of cooking in common use, which may be 
-enumerated as follows: Boiling, roasting, broiling, baking, frying', stew- 
ing. 

J^oiling. — There is an art in cooking food in such a manner as to 
■cause as little loss as possible of its nutritive principles. 

If the object to be attained should be the extraction of the goodness 
■of meat, into the surrounding liquid, as in making soujys, broths, etc., the 
article should be minced or cut up finely, and placed in cold water. After 
soaking for a short time, heat should be applied, and the temperature 
o,Tadually raised. For broths, no actual boiling is needed — it is desirable, 
indeed, that it should be avoided, so as not to consolidate and lose more 
than possible of the albumen. For soups, however, prolonged boiling is 
necessary, in order fully to extract the gelatine. It is this, in fact, which 
forms the basis of soup, for the floating albumen is hardened or condensed 
and got rid of by straining. 

Thus treated, the principles of the meat, so far as circumstances will 
iillow, pass out into the surrounding liquid, and as this gains in flavor and 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 333^ 

■nutritive properties, so the meat becomes impoverished, a hard, fibrous^ 
and insipid residue being produced. 

Where, however, it is desired that the flavor and nutritive properties 
should be retained in the meat, an opposite process must be adopted. 
The piece of meat should be large, and it should be plunged suddenly 
into boiling water, and the process of boiling briskly maintained for 
about five minutes. This coagulates the albuminous matter upon the 
surface, and leads to the formation of a more or less impermeable exter- 
nal layer, which precludes the escape of the juices from the substance of 
the meat. After this object has been fulfilled, instead of boiling being 
continued, a temperature of between 160° and 170° Fahr. constitutes 
what is wanted, and this degree should be maintained until the process 
of cooking is completed. Cooked in this way, the central part of the 
meat remains juicy and tender, and possesses, in the highest degree, the 
properties of nutritiveness and digestibility. Unless exposed throughout 
to the temperature named, the albuminous and coloring matters are not 
properly coagulated, and the meat presents a raw or underdressed ap- 
pearance. If exposed to a temperature much above 170°, the muscular 
substance shrinks and becomes proportionately hard and indigestible. 
The usual fault committed in cooking meat is keeping the water in which 
it is being boiled at too high a temperature after the first exposure to 
brisk ebullition is over. 

Fish is rendered firm in proportion to the hardness of the water in 
which it is boiled. Hence, fish boiled in sea-water or in water to vs^hich 
salt has been added, is firmer, and, at the same time, more highly flavored,, 
than when boiled in soft water, on account of the less solvent action exerted. 

Upon the principle of endeavoring to retain, so far as practicable, the 
soluble constituents of an article of food, potatoes should be boiled in their 
skins, and the object aimed at is still further secured by the addition of a 
little salt to the water. By steaming, instead of boiling, the result is still 
more completely attained. 

Boiled food is more insipid than food cooked in other ways. From 
the lower temperature employed, no empyreumatic products are devel- 
oped. Being more devoid of flavor, it is less tempting to the palate, but 
sits more easily on a delicate stomach. 

In cooking, meat loses about one-fourth or more of its weight. The 
loss varies with the quality of the meat and the process of cooking em- 
ployed. According to Dr. Letheby, the ordinary percentage of loss is- 
about as follows: 

Beef generally, 
Mutton generally. 
Legs of mutton. 
Shoulders of mutton. 
Loins of mutton. 
Necks of mutton, 

Average of all, ... 23 31 34 

Thus, the loss by baking is greater than by boiling, and by roasting" 
greater than all. The loss arises chiefly from the evaporation of water 
and the melting down and escape of fat, although some is due to the de- 
structive action of the heat and the exudation of nutritive juice under th& 
form of gravy. 



oiling. 


Baking. 


Roasting; 


20 


29 


31 


20 


31 


35 


20 


32 


33 


24 


32 


34 


30 


33 


36 


25 


32 


34 



334 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Iloasting should be conducted upon the same principle as boiling. In 
order, as far as possible, to retain the nutritive juices, meat should first be 
subjected to a sharp heat. This leads to the formation of a coagulated 
layer upon the surface, which subsequently offers an impediment to the 
escape of the fluid matter within. After a short exposure to a sharp heat, 
the meat should be removed to a greater distance from the fire, so as to 
allow a lower heat gradually to penetrate to the centre. In this way the 
albumen and coloring matters are coagulated without the fibrine being 
corrugated and hardened. 

As has been already stated, on account of the great heat employed, 
roasted meat is more savory than boiled. The surface also is more or 
less scorched, and a portion of the fat is melted, and drops away under 
the form of dripping. Some of the fat likewise, under a prolonged expo- 
sure to a strong heat, undergoes decomposition, attended with a produc- 
tion of fatty acids, and an acrid volatile product known as acroleine, which 
may cause derangement of a weak stomach. In boiling, the temperature 
is not sufficient to incur the risk of rendering the fat in a similar way ob- 
noxious. 

When properly roasted, the meat is juicy enough within to lead to the 
escape of a quantity of red gravy when the first cut is made into it. 

l^roiling produces the same effect as roasting, but the proportion of 
scorched material is greater, on account of the relatively larger amount 
of surface exposed. The principle of cooking should be the same, in 
order to retain the central portion juicy. 

JBaking renders meat more impregnated with empyreumatic products, 
and therefore richer or stronger for the stomach than any other process 
o£ cooking. The operations being carried on in a confined space the vol- 
atile fatty acids generated are prevented from escaping, and thus per- 
meate the cooked articles. Meat cooked in this way is ill adapted for 
consumption where a delicate state of system exists. 

Frying is also an objectionable process of cooking for persons of weak 
digestive power. The heat is applied through the medium of boiling fat 
or oil. The article of food thus becomes more or less penetrated with 
fatty matter, which renders it, to a greater extent than would otherwise 
be the case, resistent to the solvent action of the watery digestive liquid 
secreted by the stomach. It is apt also to be impregnated with fatty- 
acid products arising from the decomposition of the fat^used in the pro- 
cess. These are badly tolerated by the stomach, and, whether generated 
in this way or when the food is in the act of undergoing digestion, ap- 
pears to form the source of the gastric trouble known as heartburn. 

Stewing places food in a highly favorable state for digestion. The 
articles to be cooked are just covered with water, and should be exposed 
to a heat sufficient only to allow of gentle simmering. A considerable 
portion of the nutritive matter passes into the surrounding liquid, which 
is consumed as well as the solid material. Properly cooked in this way, 
meat should be rendered sufficiently tender to break down under mod- 
erate pressure. If boiling be allowed to occur, the meat becomes, instead, 
tough and hard. 

Hashing is the same process applied to previously cooked instead of 
fresh meat. 

By surrounding the vessel in which the article of food is contained 
with water, so as to secure that no burning shall occur, meat may be 
slewed in its own vapor. For example, a chop or other piece of meat 
taken upon a small scale, may be placed in an ordinary preserve-jar, and 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 335 

this tied over at the top, and partially immersed in water contained in a 
saucepan. The water in the saucepan is made to simmer or gently boil, 
and when the proper time has elapsed, the meat is found perfectly soft 
and tender, and surrounded by a liquor derived from the juice which has 
escaped during the process. Meat thus prepared is in an exceedingly 
suitable state for the convalescent and invalid. 

It is upon this principle that the action of Captain Warren's " cooking- 
pot " depends. This consists of a kind of double saucepan, the inner ves- 
sel containing the joint or other article to be cooked, and the outer some 
water, through the medium of which the cooking is effected, but without 
its coming into actual contact with the food. The utensil constitutes, in 
fact, a hain-7narie, or water-bath. There need be no loss whatever of 
any of the solid matter of the meat, and the loss of weight that occurs in 
a joint is considerably less than when cooked by roasting. If it be de- 
sired to increase the flavor, the joint may be first roasted for a short time 
before beino- stewed. 

I may here refer to the " Norwegian nest^'' or " self-acting cooking ap- 
paratus " which was introduced to notice in this country a few years back. 
Messrs. Silver & Co., of Cornhill and Bishopsgate street, are now the pat- 
entees and manufacturers. It consists of a box constructed upon the prin- 
ciple of a refrigerator, the only difference in action being that it kee^Ds the 
heat in instead of keeping it out. The box, indeed, may be made use of 
either as a refrigerator or for the purpose of cooking. It is padded in- 
side with a non-conducting material, arranged so as to leave a space in 
the centre for receiving the movable tin vessel in which the process of 
cooking is carried on. The vessel is lifted out from its " nest " and filled 
with water and the article to be cooked. Heat is applied, so as to bring 
the water to the boiling point, and afterward maintain it at this for a 
short time. The vessel is then replaced in the box and shut in by the 
closure of the lid. The heat being prevented from escaping, the process 
of cooking goes on away from the fire, and no matter in what situation 
the box may be placed. The contrivance recommends itself on the score 
of economy for household use, and the box being easily carried about, it 
affords the means of furnishing, without a fire being needed, hot food out 
of doors, as in campaigning, travelling, pleasure-making, etc. It is also 
susceptible of being turned to useful account as an appurtenance to the 
sick-room. 

Soups and JBroths. — The process of preparation is here directed to ex- 
tracting the goodness from the article employed — the reverse of that in 
the case of boiling. To accomplish what is aimed at in the most complete 
manner, the article should be chopped or broken into fine pieces, and 
placed in cold water. After being allowed to macerate for a short time, 
for the soluble constituents to become dissolved out, it is gradually heated 
to a point which should vary according to the product required. In the 
case of broths and beef-tea, which properly contain only the flavoring 
principle of meat — osmazome — and the soluble constituents with finely 
coagulated albuminous matter, all that is required is to produce gentle 
simmering, and this should be kept up for about half an hour. In the 
case of soups a prolonged gentle boiling is required, in order that the gela- 
tine may be extracted, this being the principle which gives to good soup 
its property of solidifying on cooling. Bones require boiling a longer 
time than meat. The chief principle they yield is gelatine, and its ex- 
traction is greatly facilitated by the bones being broken into fine frag- 
ments previous to being used. 



336 A TREATISE OIS" FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Salting^ picJdmg, and smoMng are processes to which articles of food 
are sometimes subjected for the purpose of enabling them to be preserved 
previous to cooking. These processes have been already referred to un- 
der the head of " Preservation of Food " (p. 270), but may be alluded to 
here for the sake of stating that by their hardening action they give an 
article of difficult digestibility, which cannot be overcome by cooking. 
Food, therefore, which has been submitted to these processes should be 
avoided by the dyspeptic, except, it may be said, in the case of bacon, 
which happens, as a rule, to sit easily on the stomach. Indeed, accord- 
ing to general experience, the cured article (particularly the fat belonging 
to it) is here more digestible than the fresh — that is, than either pork or 
pig-meat. 



DIET OF INFANTS. 

The importance of this branch of dietetics can scarcely be overrated. 
At no period of life is discreet management throughout so much called 
for as during the helpless condition of early infancy, and nothing consti- 
tutes so fruitful a source of infantile sickness and mortality as injudicious 
feeding. 

The pro2^er food during the first period of infancy is that, and that 
only, which has been provided by Nature for the young of mammals, viz., 
milk General observation and carefully collected statistics agree in con- 
clusively showing that nothing can adequately replace this natural food. 
" The infant," says Dr. West,* " whose mother refuses to perform toward 
it a mother's part, or who, by accident, disease, or death, is deprived of 
the food that Nature destined for it, too often languishes and dies. Such 
children you may see with no fat to give plumpness to their limbs — no 
red particles in their blood to impart a healthy hue to their skin — their 
face wearing in infancy the lineaments of age — their voice a constant 
wail — their whole aspect an embodiment of woe. But give to such chil- 
dren the food that Nature destined for them, and if the remedy do not 
come too late to save them, the mournful cry will cease, the face will as- 
sume a look of content, by degrees the features of infancy will disclose 
themselves, the limbs will grow round, the skin pure red and white, and 
when, at length, we hear the merry laugh of babyhood, it seems almost 
as if the little sufferer of some weeks before must have been a changeling, 
and this the real child brought back from fairy-land." 

Formed for the special purpose of constituting the sole nourishment 
during the first period of infantile life, milk not only contains the princi- 
ples required for the growth and maintenance of the bod}', but contains 
them under such a form as to be especially adapted to the state of the di- 
gestive powers then existing. It must be remembered that the exercise 
of the digestive organs only comes into operation after birth. At the 
time of birth these organs are in a comparatively immature state of de- 
velopment, and it is only gradually that their full power becomes evolved. 
For the first few months it appears that no saliva at all is secreted; and 
it is true, under natural circumstances, from the character of the food 
and the absence of masticatory organs, that it is not required. The ali- 
mentary canal is short, and that portion of it called the ca?cum very 



* Lectures on the Diseases of Infancy and Childhood, fifth edition, p. 532. 1S65. 



PE ACTIO AL DIETETICS. 837 

small. The teeth, as is well known, do not appear until after the lapse 
of several months. Besides these evidences of immature development, 
experience shows that the alimentary canal is in an exceedingly suscepti- 
ble state, and most easily deranged by slight deviations in the character 
of the food. So strikingly, indeed, is this the case, that the mother, 
whilst suckling, knows that for the sake of her infant's comfort it is ne- 
cessary to exercise care over what she herself eats. All this points to 
feeble digestive capacity, and suggests a want of power of adaptiveness 
to alien articles of food. It may be considered that, up to about the 
eighth month, the infant is designed to be sustained solely by its parent's 
milk. The teeth, which about this time begin to show themselves, indi- 
cate that preparation is now being made for the consumption of food of 
a solid nature, and the most suitable to begin with will be one of the fari- 
naceous products. Bread, baked flour, biscuit-powder, oatmeal, or one of 
the numerous kinds of nursery biscuits that are made, may be employed 
for a time as a supplement to the previous food. Then, at about the tenth 
month, the maternal supply, which should have been already lessened, 
should be altogether stopped, and the child started upon the life of inde- 
pendence that is to follow. For a while, milk and the farinaceous pro- 
ducts referred to above still form the most suitable food; but as the child 
advances in its second year and the teeth become more developed, meat 
may be added. 

Such forms the natural course to be pursued, but it often happens, 
either as the result of choice or of necessity — either because she loill not 
or cannot — that the mother's part fails to be fulfilled. Under these cir- 
cumstances, the question of the nature of the supply to be provided as a 
substitute has to be decided upon. 

Undoubtedly the nearest approach to the actual food which has been 
designed to be given is the milk furnished by another woman, and 
amongst the more wealthy classes this is often had recourse to. Now, in 
the selection of a wet-nurse there are certain points which, in the interest 
of the infant to be reared, require to be attended to. It is scarcely 
necessary to say that the woman should be free from constitutional 
taint and in a healthy condition. The most suitable age is from 
twenty to thirty. The milk should be sufficient in quantity and good in 
quality, and as its composition alters to some extent as time advances 
from the date of confinement, it is desirable that the infant should be 
nourished by a person who has given birth about the same time as its own 
mother. A brunette is considered to make a better nurse than a blonde. 
Upon the authority of the analyses of L'Heritier, the milk of the former 
is said to be richer in solid constituents than the latter; but, besides this, 
the difference in temperament exerts its influence in maintaining a more 
steady condition in the one case than in the other. For example, the 
sanguine temperament, with its associated susceptible organization, be- 
longing to the blonde, disposes to a greater liability of sudden alterations 
from mental causes than the phlegmatic temperament, with its less im- 
pressionable organization, of the brunette. 

Next in appropriateness to the food supplied by a wet-nurse comes the 
milk derived from one of the lower animals; and this may be employed 
either to make up for a deficient supply from the mother, or as the sole 
article of nourishment. It is obvious that the milk to be selected should 
be that which is readily obtainable, and which presents the closest approxi- 
mation to the infant's natural food. The cow, goat, and ass are the ani- 
mals which best answer the conditions required; and reference to the 
22 



338 I A TREATISE ON FOOD A^D DIETETICS. 

analytical table at p. 117 will show which of the three furnishes the most 
appropriate kind of milk. In the first place, the milk of the ass, although 
it has had its advocates as a food for infants, presents considerable dis- 
parity in composition from that of the human subject. Whilst being 
richer in sugar and soluble salts, it shows a marked deficiency in both ni- 
trogenous matter and fat. It may be adapted for the delicate stomach 
of a person reduced by illness to a great state of debility, but it can hardly 
be looked upon as representing what is most suitable for a growing child. 
The milk of the cow gives the nearest approach to what is wanted, 
and it happens, also, that this in general is more easily procurable than 
that of any other animal. In Payen's table [vide p. 11.7), cow's milk is 
represented as richer in all its solid constituent principles than woman's, 
and slight dilution with water will be all that is required to bring it to a 
sufficiently close approximation for serving as a substitute. The analyses 
given by other authorities, however, render it presumable that the sugar 
of woman's milk is under-estimated in the table in question; and that, 
whilst the caseine and butter are in less quantity than in cow's milk, the 
lactine, on the other hand, is in excess. The practical management of 
infants shows that in employing cow's milk, it is desirable to sweeten as 
well as dilute it. Instead of simply adding water, a solution of sugar, or, 
what is more in conformity with the natural state, sugar of milk, in the 
proportion of an ounce to three-fourths of a pint, may be used, and at 
first mixed to the extent of about one-third with two-thirds of milk. 
Later on, the quantity of the diluent may be somewhat diminished. The 
milk of the goat is even richer in solid constituents than that of the cow, 
and, therefore, stands somewhat further removed from that of the human 
subject. Goat's milk also possesses a strong and peculiar odor of its own, 
but, in the case of infants, this does not seem to form any serious obstacle 
to its use, for, if repugnant at first, custom soon overcomes the difficulty. 

The importance of securing, as far as practicable, that the milk is de- 
rived from an animal in a healthy state, and surrounded by wholesome 
conditions, will be readily understood. The alimentary canal of infants, 
and particularly of some, is exceedingly impressionable to unwholesome 
food, and the milk of cows kept, as cows in large cities and towns not un- 
frequently are, in an unnatural state, may prove the source of violent 
irritation of the stomach and bowels, and lead, if persevered in, to serious 
impairment of the health, terminating ultimately, it may be, in a fatal 
result. 

There can be little doubt of the desirability of aUvays obtaining the 
supply from the same animal, instead of indiscriminately from any cow, 
and arrangements for this are generally made in dairies. In the case of 
the goat, the animal is often kept solely for the purpose under considera- 
tion, and has before now been domesticated, and tutored to discharge its 
office in the manner of a wet-nurse. 

Respecting the use of condensed milk as food for infants, the reader's 
attention is directed to the foot note at p. 122. The milk, as sold, is al- 
ready in a highly sweetened condition. 

Articles of a farinaceous nature, such, for instance, as bread, biscuit- 
powder, baked flour, rusks, and a variety of biscuits and preparations sold 
at different establishments, w^hich enter so extensively into general nursery 
use, must be looked upon as foreign to the diet of infants of tender age. 
Constituted in great part, as these articles are, of a principle — starch — 
which has no existence in milk, and which requires to undergo a special 
kilid^of digestion to fit it for absorption, it is presumable that the digestive 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 339 

organs are not adapted at this stage properly to meet the demand that is 
made when these substances are consumed. From the fact that they are 
light and nourishing for older children, there is a popular tendency to re- 
gard them as forming suitable food for early infancy; but all authorities 
concur in condemning them as improper for use at such a period. It is 
true, later oil they represent the most appropriate solid material to begin 
with; but this is when the digestive organs have reached a more advanced 
stage of development. Liebig, in his pamphlet * on the " Food for In- 
fants " devised by himself, goes so far as to assert that the usual farina- 
ceous foods are the cause of most of the diseases and of half of the deaths 
of infants. 

Looking at its composition, the sweet almond has properties which 
furnish a food more analogous to milk than the farinaceous products. 
Pounded and made into an emulsion, a liquid is obtained which, as re- 
gards the chemical nature of its constituents and the physical condition 
in which the fatty matter exists, presents a close alliance to milk. 

Liebig has introduced a food for infants, devised upon chemical prin- 
ciples, to form a substitute for the mother's milk. It is derived from malt- 
flour, wheat-flour, cow's milk, bicarbonate of potash, and water. For 
further particulars regarding its precise mode of preparation, vide p. 122, 
It appears to be extensively used in Germany, and has been brought 
prominently into notice in England. To avoid the uncertainty arising 
from not properly attending to the directions given, it is manufactured 
and sold in a dried state, the preparation thus supplied keeping for an 
indefinite time, and requiring" only to be dissolved in a certain quantity 
of warm water to be rendered fit for use. Infants, as a rule, take it 
readily, and seem to thrive satisfactorily upon it. 

The amount of milk consumed by a child fed naturally at the breast, 
has been determined by weighing immediately before and immediately 
after suckling. Dr. West, upon the authority of M. Guillot's results, ob- 
tained at the Foundling Hospital in Paris, says that the increase in weight 
has been found to vary from 2 to 5 ounces in infants under a month old, 
and that 2|- pounds avoirdupois has been concluded to form the smallest 
quantity that will suffice for the daily nourishment of a healthy infant 
during the first month of its existence. It is suggested, however, that 
the observations made were not numerous enough to furnish more than a 
rough approximation to the truth. 



DIET FOR TRAINING. 

The object of training is the preparation of the system for some un- 
usual feat of exertion, and the results which the art aims at producing are 
(1) increased muscular strength, (2) increased power of endurance, and 
(3) " improvement of the wind." It is principally by attention to diet 
and exercise that these results are attained, and about six weeks is the 
time usually devoted to the process when fully carried out. Under a suc- 
cessful progress the muscles increase in bulk, grow firmer, and become 
more subordinate to the influence of the will, thereby leading to the pro- 
duction of a feeling of freedom and lightness, or " corkiness," as it has 

* Food for Infants. Walton, Gower street, 1867. 



340 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

been termed, of the limbs. The muscular tissue, in fact, increases in 
quantity and improves in quality. There is a removal of superfluous fat 
and water, and by *' over-training" the body may become so completely 
deprived of fat, or the muscles so finely drawn, as to lead to a loss, in- 
stead of gain, of the power of enduring prolonged exertion. The skin be- 
comes clear, smooth, fresh-colored, and elastic. There is no part of the 
body, it is said, on which training produces a more conspicuous effect 
than on the skin, and by its state a criterion is afforded which enables an 
experienced person to judge of the fitness of the individual for the task 



in view. 



The rule as regards exercise is to begin with a moderate amount, and 
gradually increase it, and the muscles which are to be specially called into 
play require to be S3'stematically trained in excess of the others. Run- 
ning is the kind of exercise which most " improves the wind," and, what- 
ever the feat to be performed, it is usual to enforce a certain amount of 
running daily, for the special object of making the person "longer 
winded." 

There is a general agreement regarding exercise, but respecting diet 
and other measures most fanciful notions have been held. Emetics, pur- 
gatives, and sometimes diaphoretics, w-ere formerly recognized as forming 
an essential part of the process of training. Sir John Sinclair,* in his 
article on " Training," says, " With a view^ of clearing the stomach, and 
getting rid of all superfluities, either of blood or anything else, and also 
to promote good digestion afterward, medicines are given when the train- 
ing is commenced. They begin with an emetic, and in about two days 
afterward give a dose of Glauber's salts, from one to two ounces; and, 
missing about two da3's, another dose, and then a third. It is supposed 
that one emetic and three doses of physic will clear any man of all the 
noxious matter he may have had in his stomach and intestines." It is 
scarcely necessary to state that no such heroic measures arc now deemed 
advisable, and, if our present ideas are correct, considerable harm must 
have frequently resulted from their employment. 

The tendency of the present day is not to attach so much importance 
to strictness of diet as formerly, and perhaps the latitude given is some- 
times beyond what is desirable. There can be no doubt that, to begin 
with, there should be no sudden deviation of a marked nature from the 
accustomed diet, and afterward that the restriction should not be so severe 
as to excite any repugnance. Sudden changes always incur the risk of a 
disturbance of health, and, unless the food subsequently allowed proves 
grateful to the palate, the dietetic scheme may fail to secure the fully 
nourished condition that is needed. 

Lean meat has always entered largely into the diet for training, and 
experience show^s that it contributes in a higher degree than other food 
to the development of strength and energy. If we look to the lower ani- 
mals, and compare the carnivora with the herbivora, we notice a sti-iking 
contrast in their muscular vigor and activity. It has been ascertained 
physiologically that animal food disposes to the removal of sujhm-Auous 
water [vide the effect in increasing the flow of urine, p. 318) and fat, and 
makes the muscles firm and rich in solid constituents. The accounts that are 
furnished b}^ travellers point to the aptitude of a meat diet for increasing the 
power of performing muscular exertion. Dr. IJvingstone f says: "When 

♦ The Code of Health and Lonrrevity, 4th ed., p. S3. 181S. 
f Livingstone's Zambesi, p. 373. 



PKACTICAL DIETETICS. 341 

the Makololo go on a foray, as they sometimes do, a month distant, many 
of the subject tribes who accompany them, being grain-eaters, perish from 
sheer fatigue, while the beef-eaters scorn the idea of ever being tired.'' 
Sir Francis Head,* when crossing the Pampas, got tired at first with the 
constant galloping, and was obliged to ride in a carriage after passing five 
or six hours on horseback; but after, he says: "I had been riding for 
three or four months, and had lived on beef and water, I found myself in 
a condition which I can only describe by saying that I felt no exertion 
could kill me. . . . This will explain the immense distances which people 
in South America are said to ride, which," adds Sir Francis Head, ''I am 
confident could only be done on beef and water." The Guachos, belong- 
ing to South America, are a race of people well known for the extraordi- 
nary number of hours they pass in active exercise on horseback, and they 
are observed to subsist almost entirely on animal food. It will thus be 
seen that evidence is not wanting to substantiate the position accorded to 
meat in the trainers regimen. 

Roastinof and broilino; are considered to be the best modes of cooklno-. 
All are agreed that the meat should not be over-cooked, but some have 
advocated that it should be eaten very much underdone. Perhaps in the 
latter state it possesses higher stimulating properties, but reason calls for 
its being cooked sufficiently to be palatable and susceptible of mastica- 
tion. There can be no doubt that, by over-cooking, its digestibility and 
virtue are lessened. 

Beef and mutton are the meats to be preferred, and it is not necessary 
that all the fat should be excluded. Stale bread or dry toast, potatoes, 
and some kind of green vegetable in moderation, are the appropriate arti- 
cles to be taken in conjunction. AVater-cresses are considered good. Pas- 
try, flour-pudding, sweets, and made dishes, should find no place in the 
dietarv of the man in trainino-. The farinaceous articles, as rice, sag-o, 
etc., are allowable, but should only be taken to a moderate extent. To 
avoid too great sameness is an important point, especially with those who 
have been previously accustomed to a liberal diet; at the same time it is 
not desirable that the person should be tempted to eat to satiety. A full 
stomach, as is well known, disposes to inactivity. Condiments, as pickles, 
sauces, etc., are objectionable, on account of their effect being to force 
the appetite, which should be simply allowed to have its natural play. 

In former times it was the practice to rigorously restrain the con- 
sumption of liquids to the lowest point that could be borne. Sir John 
Sinclair f states: " There is no circumstance which seems to be more essen- 
tial in training up persons to the acquisition of athletic strength, than to 
permit them to take only a small quantity of liquid food. . . . The 
ancient atJdetce were allowed but a very small quantity of fluid. This 
dry diet, as it is termed, seems to have formed an essential and important 
part of their regimen." Such a course of procedure must evidently be 
wrong in principle. The exercise undertaken involves an extensive loss 
of fluid, and it is onlv natural that this should be replaced in proportion 
as thirst indicates its requirement. In proof of the actual amount of loss 
occurring during active exercise, Maclaren | says: ''In one hour's ener- 
getic fencing, I found the loss by perspiration and respiration, taking the 
average of six consecutive days, to be about 3 lbs., or, accurately, 40 oz., 
with a varying range of S oz." The sensation of thirst may be taken as af- 

* Journeys Across the Pampas, p, 51, 1828. f Op. cit. , p. 33. 

X Training in Theory and Practice, by A. Maclaren, p. 89. 1866. 



34:2 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

fording a correct guide upon the point of the amount of liquid to be con- 
sumed, but instead of drinking freely at a draught to satiety, the liquid 
should be sipped in small quantities, to give time for absorption, and thus 
satisfy thirst, without incurring the risk of introducing a surplus amount 
into the stomach. In this way the error is not likely to be committed of 
drinking too much. The liquids consumed must be of a simple and un- 
exciting nature. Beer and the light wines are allowable, but spirits 
should be scrupulcKisly avoided. Tea, coffee, and cocoa may be taken 
according to inclination, and, as a simple diluent, nothing is better than 
toast and water, or barley water. 

The proper number of meals to be taken during the day consists of 
three — viz., one about 9 a.m., the second between 1 and 2 p.m., and the 
third in the early part of the evening. 

It has been mentioned that, at the commencement of training, instead 
of plunging suddenly into a severe system of diet and exercise, a gradual 
advance should be made. The same equally applies to the cessation of 
training, and there is reason to believe that the seeds of more or less 
serious mischief are often sown by the sudden retreat that is customarily 
made from the life of discipline that has been practised. 

Subjoined are the training tactics employed for rowing at Oxford and 
Cambridge, according to the tables contained in the appendix to the 
work of Maclaren already referred to. 



THE OXFORD SYSTEM. 

A day''s training for the summer races, — Rise about 7 a.m. A 
short walk or run. Breakfast at 8.30 of meat (beef or mutton, under- 
done), bread (the crust only recommended), or dry toast, and tea (as lit- 
tle as possible recommended). Dinner at 2 p.m., of meat (much the same 
as for breakfast), bread, and no vegetables (a rule, however, not always 
adhered to), with one pint of beer. About 5 p.m. a row twice over the 
course on the river, the speed being increased with the strength of the 
crew. Supper at 8.30 or 9, of cold meat and bread, with perhaps jelly 
or water-cresses, and one pint of beer. Retire to bed about 10. 

A day^s training for the winter races. — Rise about 7.30 a.m. A 
short walk or run. Breakfast at 9, as for the summer races. Luncheon 
about 1, of bread or a sandwich, and half a pint of beer. About 2 a row 
twice over the course. Dinner at 5, of meat, as for the summer races; 
bread; vegetables, the same rule as for the summer faces; pudding (rice) 
or jelly, and half a pint of beer. 

It is particularly impressed on men in training that as little liquid as 
possible is to be drunk, water being strictly forbidden. 



THE CAMBRIDGE SYSTEM. 

A day's training for the summer races. — Rise at 7 a.m. A run of 
100 or 200 yards as fast as possible. Breakfast at 8.30 of meat — beef or 
mutton — underdone; dry toast; tea — two cups, or toward the end of 
training a cup and a half only; and water-cresses occasionally. Dinner 
about 2 of meat — beef or mutton; bread; vegetables — potatoes, greens; 
and one pint of beer. (Some colleges have baked apples, or jellies, or 



PRACTICAL DIETETICS. 343 

rice puddings). Dessert — oranges, or biscuits, or figs, with two glasses 
of wine. About 5.30 a row to the starting-post and back. Supper 
about 8.30 or 9 of cold meat; bread; vegetables — lettuce or watercresses, 
and one pint of beer. Retire to bed at 10. 

A day's training for the lointer races. — Rise about 7 a.m. Exercise 
as for the summer races. Breakfast at 8.30, as for the summer races. 
Luncheon about 1 of a little cold meat, bread, and half a pint of beer; or 
biscuit with a glass of sherry — perhaps the yolk of an e.gg in the sherry. 
At 2 a row over the course and back. Dinner about 5 or 6, as for sum- 
mer races. Retire to bed about 10. 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 



Holding the position that food does in relation to the operations of 
life, the art of dietetics not only bears on the maintenance of health, but 
is capable of being turned to advantageous account in the treatment of 
disease. 

Under natural circumstances, instinct guides us in the selection and 
consumption of food and drink. Whilst keeping to simple articles of diet, 
it may be left to the sensations of hunger and thirst to regulate the 
amount of solids and liquids taken. In many disordered conditions, 
however, there is such a perverted state existing that the promptings of 
nature fail to be evoked, and it devolves upon reason to assume the 
initiative and dictate the supply to be furnished. Under these circum- 
stances the nature and amount of food administered will often exert a 
most potent influence for good or evil, and the art of dietetics thus comes 
into great importance. Skill and attention are called into requisition — 
indeed, it is not too much to say that success in the treatment of disease 
is largely dependent upon a display of judicious management with re- 
gard to food. 

It frequently happens that the difficulty encountered in the sick-room 
is to get what may be considered a proper amount of food taken. The 
inclination to eat depends upon the state both of the body and the mind. 
The food must be rendered pleasing to the eye and agreeable to the 
palate; and in order to rouse and keep in action a flagging appetite, a 
suitable variety in what is provided must be secured. Herein lies a great 
point in catering for sick people, and but too often the error is com- 
mitted of allowing an excess of sameness to prevail. 

It must be borne in mind that the demand for food is dependent upon 
its proper application, and failure of the appetite is often due to the de- 
fective manner in which nutrition is performed. It is not what we eat, 
but what we digest, assimilate, and apply, that concerns us as regards 
nutrition. Food introduced into the stomach, but not digested, assimi- 
lated, and employed, is calculated to prove a source of irritation and to 
do harm. It is not, therefore, to be thought that because it is got down 
it must needs prove of service. Judicious persuasion should be exer- 
cised, but I believe that much needless worry is often inflicted by the in- 
cessant solicitation, however well meant, that is frequently made by those 
around a patient to get food taken. The disinclination, indeed, for tak- 
ing food is sometimes such that the thought .of it is sufficient to excite a 
feeling of repulsion, which, more powerful over the muscles concerned 
than the will, overcomes any effort that may be made to swallow it. 

The quantity of food administered at a time should be in proportion 
to the power of digesting it, and to properly compensate for a diminished 
quantity there should be a corresponding increase in the frequency of ad- 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 345 

ministration. " Little and often " is the maxim upon many occasions to 
be followed, and much will sometimes depend upon the strictness with 
which it is carried out; for, apart from complying with what is wanted 
upon the principle that has been just referred to, it meets the defective 
aptitude that exists in sickness for sustaining any lengthened duration of 
absence of food. 

As a natural result of the administration of food at short intervals, no 
appetite is at any time experienced, even although the circumstances may 
be such as would otherwise allow it to become developed. The fact must 
not be lost sight of, that t^e return of a feeling of desire for food may be 
kept back in this w^ay; and the expediency must always be held in view 
of conforming as soon and as far as is allowable with W'hat is natural. 
Under all circumstances, it may be said, the rule should be to follow, 
alike as to quality, quantity, and periods of taking food, as closely as 
the conditions to be dealt with will permit, the course that is natural in 
health. 

It devolves upon the physician, in the dietetic management of his case, 
to point out the suitable kinds and quantities of food to be taken, but it 
depends upon the system of his patient whether his recommendation can 
be carried out. It is no good to lay down and attempt to enforce, as 
may be done in health, rigid dietetic regulations, founded upon the number 
of grains of carbon and nitrogen required for carrying on the operations 
of life. The difficulty with which tlie practitioner is more often than not 
assailed is as to what can, and not as to wdiat should, be taken. 

As the principles of dietetics have become better understood, we do 
not hear of those disastrous consequences of improper dieting, affecting 
large numbers of people, that w^ere formerly from time to time recorded. 
There is still, however, a large amount of scattered evil to be met with, 
in many instances directly dependent on the food that is taken, and in 
others, if not directly occasioned by the food, at all events removable by 
an altered system of dieting. It may happen that this evil arises out of 
poverty or ignorance, but more frequently it is the fruits of indiscretion. 
Much of the deranged health which the physician is called upon to treat, 
stands as the offspring of some kind of error in eating or drinking, and 
his first concern should be to find out what is wrong, in order that he may 
know how to shape his advice advantageously. 

In speaking of the appropriate diets to be employed in various morbid 
conditions, attention will require to be directed to the particular diatheses 
or states of the body which different kinds of food tend to induce, for it 
may be considered that the information thus supplied often directs us to 
a rational mode of procedure in therapeutic dietetics. 

It may be premised, to start with, that our natural diet consists of an 
admixture of animal and vegetable food; that different combinations of 
alimentary principles are best suited for particular modes of life; and that, 
if the combination supplied be w^rongly adjusted, a tendency to the de- 
velopment of an unhealthy state will exist. 

The effect of a highly nitrogenized diet — and it is animal food which 
is characterized by richness in nitrogenous matter — is to throw upon the 
system a large amount of eliminative work. The nitrogenous matter in 
excess of that which is directly applied to the growth and renovation of 
the structures of the body undergoes a process of retrograde metamor- 
phosis, and is resolved in part into certain useless nitrogenous products 
which have to be cast out by the agency of the glandular organs with 
which we are provided. Now, as long as free exercise is taken and the 



346 A TEEATISS ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

circulation is kept in an active state, favorable circumstances exist for 
the absorption of oxygen and the proper occurrence of metamorphosis 
and elimination. Thus circumstanced, a diet into which animal food en- 
ters largely — a diet that is rich in nitrogenous matter— -is borne with 
ease, and indeed may be said to conduce to increase tissue-formation and 
the development of a high state of bodily health and strength. Conjoined 
with sedentary habits, however, a different result is observed. The slug- 
gish circulation which such habits tend to occasion naturally entails de^ 
fective oxygenation. This, in its turn, leads to imperfect metamorphosis, 
and the two together conspire to induce deficient eliminative action. Thu& 
the system becomes more or less clogged with effete products, which act 
perniciously in various ways upon the body. For instance, there is reason 
to believe that they may sometimes in a direct manner constitute the 
source of gouty deposits in the joints. They undoubtedly give rise to 
the presence of a preternatural amount of solid matter in the urine, mani- 
festing a proneness to become deposited under the form of sand, gravel, 
or stone. They likewise disturb the action of the liver, producing a dis- 
position to the occurrence of bilious derangement. Besides these effects, 
evidence is not wantinoj- to show that throug-h their influence the other 
functions of life are to a srreater or less extent interfered with. To ob- 
viate, therefore, the production of these disordered actions, those who lead 
an inactive life should not allow their diet to contain a preponderance of 
nitrogenous food — that is, they should abstain from partaking largely of 
animal products. 

Gout has been enumerated above amongst the evils that may arise 
from the consumption of a highly nitrogenized diet, and the present op- 
portunity may be taken for referring to the appropriate dietetic course 
to be pursued by those who are suffering from, and those who desire to 
avert the invasion of, the disorder. CuUen remarked that gout seldom 
attacks persons employed in constant bodily labor, or those who live 
principally upon vegetable diet, and general observation confirms the 
truth of this statement. If not completely proved, it is nevertheless 
highly probable, that gout is the offspring of an undue accumulation of 
imperfectly metamorphosed nitrogenous products within the body, and 
that either an excess of nitroo^enous matter in the food, a deficiency on 
the part of the metamorphosing capacity of the sx'-stem (such as may be 
produced by an inactive life), or the ingestion of certain alcoholic drinks 
which appear to contain extractive matter prone to undergo imperfect 
metamorphosis (vide p. 240), and perhaps to impede the metamorphosis 
of other substances, may be the source of this condition. Whether or not 
the above reasoning is correct, it is known as the result of experience 
that a highly animalized diet, sedentary habits, and indulgence in the 
use of the richer varieties of wine and beer, individually and conjointly 
tend to encourage the development of gout. It has been previously stated 
that a diet rich in animal food may be consumed with advantage where 
much muscular work is performed. It seems, under these circumstances, 
to be both promotive of health and bodily vigor. Not so, however, where 
sedentary habits prevail, and particularly is this the case where a gouty 
disposition exists. With those who have already experienced symptoms 
of gout, and those also who have grounds for apprehending its invasion, it 
is important that an excess of nitrogenous food should be avoided. The 
diet should be simple, in order that the temptation may be avoided of 
eating too much, and should at the same time be adjusted to the mode of 
life, the principle to observe being, that the higher the degree of inactiv- 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 347 

ity the greater ought to be the preponderance of food derived from the 
vegetable kingdom. 

Even of more importance than what is eaten is what is drunk, where 
the question of gout is concerned, and observation shows that it is not 
distilled spirits, but the stronger wines and malt liquors which favor the 
production of the disorder. Nothing is more potent than port wine in 
leading to the production of gout, and a few years' liberal indulgence in 
it has often been known to be instrumental in bringing it on where no 
family predisposition had existed. Dry sherry and the light wines, as 
claret, burgundy, hock, champagne, etc., may be drunk, certainly in mod- 
eration, with comparatively little or no fear of inducing the disease, al- 
though any kind of wine appears capable of sometimes acting as the 
exciting cause of a paroxysm where the gouty disposition is already estab- 
lished. Stout, porter, and the stronger ales, especially those which have 
become hard from age, rank next to port wine in their power of predisposing 
to gout. As regards the light bitter beers, which are so extensively used 
at the present time, the same must be said of them as of the light wines — 
viz., that with little, if any, disposition to induGe the disease, they never- 
theless appear capable of sometimes exciting its manifestation in a gouty 
subject. A pure spirit, as whiskey, hollands, or brandy, diluted with 
water, often forms the only kind of alcoholic drink that is found to agree 
with those who are sufferrng from gout. 

The effect of a deficiency of nitrogenous matter is to tell prejudicially 
upon nutrition and vigor. Forming, as it does, the essential basis of liv- 
ing structures, a definite quantity is indispensable for the proper develop- 
ment and maintenance of the body. However freely the other elements 
of food may be supplied, an ill-nourished and feeble condition, such as 
was formerly noticeable amongst the potato-eating Irish, must necessarily 
follow a scanty allowance of nitrogen6us matter. As the instrument of 
living action, power will be proportionate, other circumstances being 
equal, to the amount of nitrogenous matter existing in operation. 

Fatty matter occupies a position of considerable importance as an ali- 
mentary agent. Apart from its high capacity as a force-producing agent, 
its presence seems to be essential to tissue-formation, and, rightly or 
wrongly, the belief is entertained that the existence of a deficiency for 
application in this way furnishes a source of diseased action in the direc- 
tion of scrofula and tubercle. Experience shows the beneficial effect that 
is often derivable from the administration of cod-liver oil in the scrofulous 
and tubercular diatheses. Now, it is probably to the increased systematic 
employment of fatty matter that this effect is to a large extent due, and 
it is only reasonable to infer that a measure which proves of efficacy iij 
removing an unhealthy condition would also tend to prevent its develop- 
ment. 

Taken in excess, fatty matter is apt to derange the alimentary canal. 
It is always more or less trying to the stomach, and particularly so when 
it has undergone change from keeping or from prolonged exposure to 
heat. Entering the bowels beyond the capacity that exists for effecting 
its digestion and absorption, it is liable to set up diarrhoea. 

Starchy and saccharine matters form advantageous constituents of 
our food, and serve to take the place that would otherwise require to be 
filled by any extra amount of fat. Consumed in moderate amount they 
are utilized by application to the operations of life; but taken to a large 
extent, and in association with a proper proportion of albuminous and 
fatty matter, they lead to an advancing deposit of fat, which may proceed 



348 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

to such a point as to prove a source of serious evil. They possess the 
convenient quality of taxing lightly the digestive organs, and thereby 
usefully contribute to afford appropriate food for sick and delicate per- 
sons. Used in excess and too exclusively, however, they are liable to give 
rise to acidity of stomach and flatulence. 

The present may be looked upon as forming the most fitting oppor- 
tunity for referring to the kind of food best suited for increasing and di- 
minishing stoutness. The condition of the body is to a large extent 
dependent on the quality and quantity of food consumed. It is not, 
however, wholly the question of food that is concerned, but also the tem- 
perament or nervous organization belonging to the individual. It is well 
known that, whatever and however much some joeople may eat, they al- 
ways remain thin, whilst others grow stout although eating comparatively 
little. The same holds good in the case of the lower animals, and fat- 
teners of animals for the table are practically made aware that a restless 
disposition is unfavorable to successful fattening. '* A restless pig," 
states Liebig,* upon the strength of practical information furnished to 
him, " is not adapted for fattening, and, however great the supply of 
food, it will not grow fat. Pigs which are fit for fattening must be of a 
quiet nature; after eating they must sleep, and after sleeping must be 
ready to eat again." 

From what is contained in the foregoing pages, we learn that the in- 
crease of muscle is most promoted by a diet which is rich in nitrogenous 
matter conjoined with exercise. It is simply, however, a growth of mus- 
cular tissue which occurs under these conditions. The fat undergoes no 
increase. Indeed, the effect of such a regimen is to lead to a reduction 
of fat if a superfluity has existed at the commencement. These are facts 
which have long been known, and are constant^ being attested by the 
results obtained by training. It has been equally well known that the 
conditions most conducive to the accumulation of fat are a diet which is 
rich in either fat or carbohydrates (provided the requisite amount of 
nitrogenous matter be present for affording what is wanted for the opera- 
tions of life), exposure to a warm atmosphere, and inactive habits. The 
food used for the fattening of domestic animals by those who have ac- 
quired the knowledge b}^ experience of what is best, is of the nature de- 
scribed. TLe efficacy of sugar in promoting fatness is disjjlayed by the 
change thc^t oocurs in the condition of the negro during the sugar-making 
season in the AVest Indies. The ordinary food of these people, I was in- 
formed by a plantation proprietor belonging to Barbadoes, consists of 
Indian corn-meal, rice, butter, and salt, with, during a portion of the year, 
the sweet potato, which is grown as a succession-crop to the sugar-cane. 
I learnt from the same source, in confirmation of what has been mentioned 
by others, that during the season for gathering the sugar-cane, which ex- 
tends through March, April, and May, the work-people are noticed to grow 
conspicuously stouter, and that this change is attributed (and doubtless 
correctly so) to their habit of constantly chewing pieces of the succulent 
cane whilst they are working amongst it. 

That a supply of fat should tend to augment the accumulation of fat in 
the body is simple and intelligible enough. Digestion, absorption, and ac- 
cumulation when in excess of the immediate requirements of the body, fol- 
low its ingestion as natural sequences. With the carbohydrates, however, 
an elaborating process has to be carried out — they necessarily require, in 

* Animal Chemistry, 2d ed,, p. 312. 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 349 

tlie first place, to become converted by assimilative action into fat before 
they can lead to the accumulation of this principle. Although the point 
Was at one time disputed, precise experimental evidence is now adducible 
{vide p. 76 et seq.) showing that this assimilative power is enjo3'ed by the 
animal system, and common observation affords confirmatory testimony. 
For the conversion to take place, the food must contain a due proportion of 
nitrogenous matter. Without this nutrition suffers, and the carbohydrates 
fail to produce an increase of fat. The presence of a certain proportion 
of fatty matter seems also to promote the conversion of the carbohydrates 
into fat. I have found, for example, in experimenting upon the subject, 
that the addition of a moderate amount of fat to a fixed daily allowance 
of barley-meal and potatoes, which had previously maintained a dog with- 
out any material variation in weight, caused an increase in weight beyond 
the amount of fat administered. The food employed, also, for fattening 
the goose and obtaining the foie gras, consists of Indian corn, which is 
characterized amongst farinaceous seeds by the large proportion of fatty 
matter it contains. 

Guided, then, by the information we possess, the dietary to be pre- 
scribed, where the aim is to produce increased stoutness, should comprise 
such articles as fat meats, butter, cream, milk, cocoa, chocolate, bread, 
potatoes, peas, parsnips, carrots, beet-root, farinaceous and flour pad- 
dings, pastry, almond puddings and biscuits, custard, frumenty, oatmeal 
porridge, sugar and sweets, sweet wines, porter, stout, sweet ales, and 
liqueurs. Women in the Bey's seraglio at Tripoli we' are told (Mrs. 
Walker's " Female Beauty ") " are fattened against a certain day by means 
of repose and baths, assisted by a diet of Turkish flour mixed with honey." 

For reducing stoutness, just the converse mode of dieting is naturally 
dictated; and that there is nothing new in applying dietetics to this pur- 
pose is shown by the subjoined extract from the writings of Sir John Sin- 
clair. Amongst the remedies for corpulency, the following dietary rules 
are given: ^' Liquid food — Acid wines, like hock, ought to be preferred 
to sweet wines, and cider to malt liquors; for wdien the former is the 
usual beverage the people are leaner than when the latter is usually 
drunk. Plain water, or mixed with a small proportion of the best vine- 
gar, may be taken. Vinegar is better than the juice of lemons, having 
passed through the process of fermentation. Tea and coffee should 
be taken by corpulent people without cream. Solid food — The bread 
should have the bran in it, so as to be more digestible. Vegetable 
diet to be preferred; hard dumplings excellent. If any animal food is 
taken, let it be fish or lean and dry meat. No eggs or butter, and the 
less sugar the better." * We cannot now, it is true, subscribe in their en- 
tirety to the recommendations here furnished, for, in some respects, owing 
to the imperfect knowledge of physiology which prevailed in Sir Jolin 
Sinclair's time, they stand at variance with the precepts founded on the 
teachings of modern science. 

A few years ago a great stir was made about the treatment of corpu- 
lency by the publicity given by Mr. Banting to his own case, in wliich, 
after unsuccessfully trying other means, he reduced himself from cumber- 
some to comely dimensions by dietetic measures. His original dietary 
table, Mr. Banting tells us, consisted of "bread and milk for breakfast, 
or a pint of tea with plenty of milk, sugar, and buttered toast; meat, beer, 
much bread, and pastry for dinner; the meal of tea similar to that of 

* The Code of Health and Longevity, 4th ed., p. 530. 1818, 



350 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

breakfast; and generally a fruit tart or bread and milk for supper." For 
this he substituted — Breakfast at 9 a.m.: five or six ounces of either beef, 
mutton, kidneys, broiled fish, bacon, or cold meat of any kind except pork 
or veal; a large cup of tea or coffee (without milk or sugar), a little biscuit 
or one ounce of dry toast: making together six ounces of solids and nine 
of liquids. Dinner at 2 p.m.: five or six ounces of any fish except sal- 
mon, herrings, or eels; any meat except pork or veal; any vegetable ex- 
cept potato, parsnip, beet-root, turnip, or carrot; one ounce of dry toast; 
fruit out of a pudding not sweetened; any kind of poultry or game, and 
two or three glasses of good claret, sherry, or madeira — champagne, port, 
and beer forbidden: making together ten to twelve ounces of solids and 
ten of liquids. Tea at 6 p.m.: two or three ounces of cooked fruit, a rusk 
or two, and a cup of tea without mMk or sugar: making two to four ounces 
of solids and nine of liquids. Supper at 9 p.m.: three or four ounces of 
meat or fish, similar to dinner, with a glass or two of claret or sherry and 
water: making four ounces of solids and seven of liquids. 

With this change of diet Mr. Banting states that he fell in weight 
from 14 stone 6 pounds to 11 stone 2 pounds in about a year. Such is noth- 
ing more than, without the aid of experience afforded by his case, would 
have been physiologically looked for. If he had been trying before the 
change to increase his corpulence he could scarcely have selected a more ap- 
propriate diet. The transition, having in view the object to be obtained, and 
speaking upon the strength of previously acquired physiological know- 
ledge, was from an erroneously'' to a properly constructed dietary. 

No new principle of action was brought to light, but there is this to 
be said, that before the introduction of " Bantingism " it was not suffi- 
ciently realized that dietetics might be turned to such practical account 
as it is really susceptible of for the reduction of corpulency. 

It must not be lost sight of that the quantity of food in Mr. Bant- 
ing's dietary is such as would be calculated to contribute its share of 
influence toward reducing the weight of the body; and it certainly must 
not be looked upon as safe to be indiscriminately followed — indeed, there 
is reason to believe that, when the popular rage for " Bantingism " pre- 
vailed, many persons incurred a serious impairment of health by keeping 
too strictly to the letter of the recommendation given. The dietary pro- 
vides twenty -two to tvk^enty-six ounces of solid food, with thirty-five ounces 
of liquids, per diem. The twenty-two to twenty -six ounces of solid food 
may be taken as representing about eleven to thirteen ounces of watter- 
free material, and if reference be made to Playfair's dietaries {vide ante^ 
p. 292), it will be seen that this fails to come up to what is classed as 
only a *' subsistence diet." The middle diet of Guy's Hospital, which 
forms the general diet upon which the inmates of the institution are 
placed, and which experience shows can scarcely be regarded as furnish- 
ing much, if anything, beyond what is really required for the support of 
life under a quiescent state, furnishes 29|- ounces of solid food, and re- 
presents 16f ounces of water-free material {vide p. 321). With these 
comparisons the reader is supplied with data for forming his own judgment 
upon the point in question. 

Dr. Parkes, after remarking that an excess of albuminates causes a 
more rapid oxidation of fat, says,* " It is now generally admitted that the 
success of Mr. Banting's treatment of obesity is owing to two actions: 
the increased oxidizing effect of fat consequent on the increase of meat 

♦On Hygiene, 3d ed., p., IGl. 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 351 

(especially if exercise be combined), and the lessened interference with 
the oxidization of fat consequent on the deprivation of starches." 
"Whether or not an increase of meat produces the alleged effect of pro- 
moting the oxidation of fat, it is practically evident that enough to ac- 
count for what occurs is to be found in the spare allowance of food and 
the restraint imposed in the use of fat and fat-forming principles. 

As a resume for the guidance of the corpulent, it may be said that the 
fat of meat, butter, cream, sugar and sweets, pastry, puddings, farinaceous 
articles, as rice, sago, tapioca, etc., potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beet-root, 
sweet ales, porter, stout, port wine, and all sweet wines, should be avoided 
or only very sparingly consumed. The articles allowable, and they may 
be taken to the extent of satisfying a natural appetite, are lean meat, 
poultry, game, eggs, milk (moderately), green vegetables, turnips, succu- 
lent fruits, light wines (as claret, burgundy, hock, etc.), dry sherry, bitter 
ale (in moderation), and spirits. Wheaten bread should be consumed 
sparingly, and brown bread is to some extent better than white. The 
gluten biscuits which are prepared for the diabetic may, on account of 
their comparative freedom from starch, be advantageously used as a sub- 
stitute for bread in the treatment of obesity. 

In diabetes onellitus a morbid condition exists, attended with a want 
of assimilative power over the starchy and saccharine principles of food, 
and in order to keep down the symptoms of the disease, the dietary re- 
quires to be framed so as to secure as far as practicable an exclusion of 
these principles. The following is the dietary plan for this complaint, 
introduced into my work " On the Nature and Treatment of Diabetes." 



DIETARY FOR THE DIABETIC. 

May Eat. — Butcher's meat of all kinds, except liver; ham, bacon, or 
other smoked, salted, dried, or cured meats; poultry, game, shell-fish and 
fish of all kinds, fresh, salted, or cured; animal soups, not thickened, beef- 
tea, and broths; the almond, bran, or gluten substitute for ordinary bread,* 
eggs dressed in any way, cheese, cream-cheese, butter, cream, greens, 
spinach, turnip-tops, f turnips, f French beans, f Brussels sprouts, f cauli- 
flower, f broccoli, \ cabbage, f asparagus, f seak-ale, f vegetable marrow, 
mushrooms, water-cress, mustard and cress, cucumber, lettuce, endive, rad- 
ishes, celery, vinegar, oil, pickles, jelly (flavored, but not sweetened), 
savory jelly, blanc-mange (made with cream, and not milk), custard 
(made without sugar), nuts of any description (except chestnuts), olives. 

Must avoid Eatixg. — Sugar in any form, wheaten-bread and ordi- 
nary biscuits of all kinds, rice, arrow-root, sago, tapioca, macaroni, ver- 
micelli, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beet-root, peas, Spanish onions, past^Ty 
and puddings of all kinds, fruits of all kinds, fresh and preserved. 

May Drixk. — Tea, coffee, cocoa from nibs, dry sherry, claret, dry 
Sauterne, Burgundy, Chablis, hock, brandy, and spirits that have not 
been sweetened, soda-water. Burton bitter ale in moderate quantity. 

Must ayoid Deixking. — Milk (except sparingly), sweet ales (mild 

* These substitutes may be obtained at Mr. Blatchley's, 362 Oxford street; Mr. 
Van Abbot's, 5 Prince's street, Cavendish square ; and Mr, Bonthron's, 106 Regent 
street. 

f Those marked with a dagger may only be eaten in moderate quantity, and 
should be boiled in a large quantity of water. 



352 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

and old), porter and stout, cider, all sweet wines, sparkling wines, port 
wine (unless sparingly), liqueurs. 

Experience has shown that, for the proper maintenance of health, n, 
certain proportion of the food must be consumed in the fresh state. 
The ill effects that are producible by a too exclusive restriction to salted 
and dried provisions are now recognized in their true light; and with the 
knowledge that has been obtained, means have been placed at our com- 
mand for averting those calamitous results due to scorbutic affections, 
which were formerly so common, partiotilarly amongst the maritime 
classes. Without being able to give the precise reason for what occurs, 
it is evident that there is something absent from dried and salted food 
which the system requires, for under restriction to its use for a length- 
ened period, a state of poverty of the blood is induced which leads to the 
various manifestations of defective nutrition that accompany scurvy; 
and, moreover, by the employment of a certain amount of fresh or succu- 
lent vegetable food, and even of vegetable juices (lemon-juice and lime- 
juice are specially used for the purpose), not only may the evils of scurvy 
be averted, but the diseased condition when established may be cured. 
It is generally considered that the anti-scorbutic virtue of the articles 
named is owing to the vegetable acids which they contain; but it must 
be remarked that the pure acids cannot be efficaciously used as a substi- 
tute. 

A beneficial influence may be exerted in certain states of the system 
by regulating the amount of fluid taken. 

The supply of a certain amount of fluid is as indispensable as that of 
solid matter for the performance of the operations of life. One use of 
the fluids taken is to furnish the requisite liquid material for carrying the 
effete products from the body. With increased water-drinking there is 
an increased discharge of urine, and with it an increased removal of solid 
matter; and there can be no doubt that, in certain states, a powerful in- 
fluence for good may be exerted by putting this princi])le of action into 
force, with those, for instance, who lead a sedentary mode of life, and 
are accustomed to full living, the effect of the free consumption of a 
watery fluid may be to rid the system of impurities which might other- 
wise lead to evils, such as li-ver disorder, gout, gravely etc. Probably 
much of the benefit in many instances derived from undergoing the 
course of treatment pursued at a watering-resort is in great part due to 
the eliminative effect of the water drunk. 

The restriction of fluids is also sometimes capable of effecting good. 
It constitutes a recognized therapeutic agency that i-s occasionally em- 
ployed in certain cases under the denomination of the "dry treatment." 
It has been recommended for cutting short a common head-cold, and 
when so employed must be put in force at the very commencement of 
the attack. No liquid of any kind is to be drunk until the disorder is 
gone, the object being to avoid supplying fluid for discharge from the in- 
flamed mucous membrane of the nose. The treatment is affirmed to be 
less distressing to bear than might be thought, and to be capable of ef- 
fecting a cure in forty-eight hours. In pleurisy, with serous effusion, 
feeding the patient upon the driest possible diet, and withholding liquids 
as far as practicable, has, in some cases, proved successful in leading to 
an absorption of the fluid. The restriction of fluids likewise forms a part 
of Mr. Tufnell's plan of treatment of internal aneurisms by " position and 
diet." The treatment is specially advocated for aneurisms of the thoracic 



THEKAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 353 

and abdominal aorta, which cannot be otherwise treated, and several ex- 
amples of successful issue have been placed on record. The points aimed 
at are to diminish the volume of blood and reduce the activity of the cir- 
culation, so that coagulation of fibrine within the sac may be favored. 
Conjoined with a strict maintenance of rest in the recumbent position 
for eight or ten weeks, the daily diet recommended for use consists of 
two ounces of white bread with butter, and two ounces of cocoa or milk, 
for breakfast; three ounces of broiled or boiled meat, with three ounces 
of potatoes or bread, and four ounces of water or light claret, for dinner; 
and two ounces of bread and butter, with two ounces of milk or tea, for 
supper; making, altogether, ten ounces of solid and eight ounces of fluid 
food in the tioenty-four hours. 

The nature of the food exerts a marked influence on the urine, and 
the effect may be turned to useful account therapeutically. 

Physiology teaches us that the kidneys perform an eliminative office. 
The water which they remove in regulating the amount of fluid in the 
system is made the vehicle for carrying off solid matter, consisting of 
useless products of metamorphosis of the food and effete materials result- 
ing from the disintegration of the tissues, which poison and produce death 
if allowed to accumulate in the blood. As long as the kidneys are acting 
healthily, these matters are discharged as fast as they are formed, and no 
danger of their undue retention within the body is incurred. The kid- 
neys, however, are liable to become the seat of disease of a character to 
lead to their eliminative capacit}'' being interfered with. Bright's disease 
is of this nature, and one mode of fatal termination in this affection is 
by urasmic poisoning — in other words, by coma attributable to the imper- 
fect removal of urinary products. 

Now, the amount of urinary matter to be discharged is largely de- 
pendent upon the nature of the food. The fats and carbohydrates throw 
no work upon the kidneys. The products of their utilization — carbonic 
acid and water — pass off through another channel. The nitrogenous in- 
gesta, on the other hand, as explained in a previous section of this work 
{vide p. 42), in great part undergo metamorphosis, and yield their nitrogen 
to be carried off in combination with a portion of their other elements, 
under the form of urinary products. In this way the kidneys become 
taxed by the food. Under an ordinary mixed diet, indeed, the chief part 
of the solid matter of the urine consists of nitrogenous products, and ob- 
servation has shown that it is to the nitrogenous matter ingested that 
these stand related. Upon the principle, therefore, of endeavoring to 
lighten the work of an affected organ, it is reasonable to infer that good 
may be done in Bright's disease by arranging the diet so as not to lead to 
the introduction of more nitrogenous matter into the system than is abso- 
lutely needed, and this may be effected by allowing vegetable food to 
preponderate. 

It must not be lost sight of that the escape of albumen might be 
brought forward as affording an argument in favor of an extra amount of 
nitrogenous matter being required in order to compensate for the waste 
occurring. In the form of Bright's disease, however, where the greatest 
impairment of functional capacity of the kidney is encountered — viz., in 
the contracted kidney — the amount of albumen escaping is frequently 
insignificant, and sometimes, even, there may be none. It may be pre- 
sumably considered, in fact, that the effect of the mere loss of albumen 
is not so much to be dreaded as the danger of uraemia, which is constantly 
impending, and which is the most likelv to be staved off for a time by the 
23 



364 A TREATISE 0:N^ FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

dietetic measures that are calculated to lead to a limited production of 
urinary matter for discharge. 

The reaction of the urine is also susceptible of being influenced by the 
character of the food, and this likewise may be turned to account thera- 
peutically. The effect of animal food is to increase the acidity, whilst 
that of vegetable food is to diminish it, and even to produce alkalinity. 
The urine of the dog, like that of the carnivora generally, is strongly acid, 
but it may be rendered alkaline by a diet of potatoes. The urine of the 
herbivora, although acid during fasting or during the intervals of diges- 
tion, tends to become alkaline and to remain so for a certain period after 
feeding. The ordinary reaction of the urine of man — a mixed feeder — is 
acid, but after fruits and other vegetable articles, partaken of largely, it 
has been observed to present an alkaline behavior. Bernard conducted 
an observation upon himself bearing on this point, and obtained a strongly 
marked attestation. His urine, to start with, was examined, and found 
to possess its ordinary acid character; and, moreover, was suJfBciently 
loaded with lithates to throw down a deposit on cooling. He began in 
the morning, and confined himself throughout the day to vegetables, fruit, 
and butter. The urine remained acid till night, but on the following 
morning it was decidedly alkaline, and no longer threw down the lithate 
deposit that had been noticed before. He partook at 8 a.m. of coffee and 
milk and bread, and at noon of meat, eggs, cheese, and wine. At 2 p.m. 
the urine was still alkaline, but at 4 p.m. it had become neutral, and at 
6 P.M. acid, in which state it afterward remained, and again threw down 
the lithate deposit. 

Dr. Bence Jones pointed out that the effect of the ingestion of food, 
without reference to any special kind, is to diminish for a time the acidity 
of the urine. He found, as the result of an examination conducted at 
short intervals, that a notable falling off in its acidity was discoverable 
after a meal; and that in numbers of healthy persons it became neutral 
or alkaline for two or three hours after breakfast and dinner. Dr. Bence 
Jones regarded this result as dependent on the withdrawal of acid from the 
blood into the stomach for the purpose of digestion, the blood being thereby 
left for the time less capable of yielding acid to the urine. Dr. Roberts * 
has discussed the subject, and refers the phenomenon to the effect of 
the entrance of the newly digested food into the blood. He says, ^' If, 
as is believed, the normal alkalescence of the blood is due to the prepon- 
derance of alkaline bases in all our ordinary articles of food, a meal is 
pro tanto a dose of alkali, and must necessarily, for a time, add to the 
alkalescence of the blood; and as the kidneys have delegated to them 
the function of regulating the reaction of the blood, the urine immediately 
reflects any undue addition to or subtraction from the blood's proper 
alkalescence." Without detracting from the validity of the explanation 
suggested by Dr. Bence Jones — for the abstraction of acid from the 
blood by the stomach may help to produce the result — Dr. Roberts' view 
is in harmony with the circumstance that the effect of food in the way 
mentioned is most strikingly apparent in the vegetable feeder, where the 
saline matter ingested has the greatest capacity for giving alkalescence. 
In the rabbit, for instance, the urine, which is acid and clear during fast- 
ing, becomes, as an everyday occurrence, opaque and milky after the in- 
gestion of food, in consequence of the deposition of earthy phosphates 
resulting from the marked degree of alkalescence acquired. 

* On Urinary and Renal Diseases, 2d ed. , p. oO. 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 355 

From what has preceded, it is seen that an excess of acidity and of 
solid matter may be reduced by means of a preponderance of vegetable 
food in the diet. With those suffering from the lithic acid diathesis — 
those in whom the urine may throw down red sand, or simply be unduly 
loaded and acid — a most beneficial effect may be produced by arranging 
the diet so that a limited allowance only of animal food is consumed, and 
that succulent vegetables and fruits, with the light wines, as claret, hock, 
etc., obtain a conspicuous place. On the other hand, where there is a ten- 
dency to alkalinity and the deposition of the earthy phosphates, exactly 
the opposite course should be adopted; but it must be remarked that the 
same degree of success is not always in this case to be obtained; and, 
where the urine is alkaline from the presence of ammonia, no decided 
effect must be looked for. 

I have hitherto been speaking of the therapeutic application of die- 
tetics through influences exerted upon the system, and have shown that 
various morbid conditions are capable of being beneficially affected by 
appropriately regulating the nature of the food consumed. I will now 
pass to the consideration of the application of dietetics to the treatment 
of diseased and disordered conditions of the digestive organs, and, here 
dealing with the immediate reciprocity that is observed to exist, the 
character of the food forms an all-important matter in the management 
of the case; indeed, it is not too much to say, that there is usually more 
to be done by proper dieting than by the agency of drugs; and, without 
some attention to dietetics, drugs will rarely be found to prove efficacious 
in affording relief. 

It is as organs in the exercise of their functional capacity that the 
digestive organs are brought into relation with food; and it may be re- 
marked, as a preliminary point of consideration, that, besides the abso- 
lute character of the food, there are conditions of a collateral nature con- 
nected with its ingestion which exert their influence for good or evil, and 
demand attention. In the first place, much depends upon the state in 
which the food reaches the stomach. Thorough mastication affords great 
assistance to the performance of digestion, and derangement of the di- 
gestive system is not unfrequently attributable to the food being swal- 
lowed in an imperfectly masticated state. The dental art may here 
prove of incalculable service, and sometimes it may be found advisable to 
recommend that the food should be fineJy minced before being eaten — an 
operation which may be most effectually achieved by having recourse to 
the aid of a mincing apparatus, and small mincing machines have been 
specially constructed for the purpose. Taking the food at regular periods 
also tends to promote the orderly working of the digestive organs, and, 
where derangement has to be rectified, should be carefully attended to. 
The amount of food that can be taken at a time should form the g-uide 
for regulating the frequency of taking it. The smaller the amount tole- 
rated at once, the more frequent should be its administration. An inter- 
val of more than four or five hours' duration between the meals is to be 
avoided. It acts perniciously in more ways than one. By inducing an 
exhausted state of the system, it diminishes the energy of the digestive 
organs, and, whilst having this effect, it at the same time calls for the 
exercise of increased energy, on account of the larger amount of food 
which requires to be taken at each meal, as a compensation for the dura- 
tion of the interval that has elapsed. It is with digestion as with other 
kinds of work: the effect of allowing it to be leisurely accomplished, as 
by taking moderate-sized meals at intervals of moderate duration, instead 



856 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

of crowding it into limited periods, as by taking larger meals with inter- 
vals of longer duration, is to render it more easily performed. 

In giving attention now to the kind of food best adapted for employ- 
ment in different disordered states of the alimentary canal, the rational 
course will be to take the influence exerted by the various groups of ali- 
mentary articles as affording a guiding principle of action. 

The office of the stomach is to dissolve nitrogenous matter, and as an- 
imal food is characterized by a preponderating amount of such matter, it 
specially taxes the powers of the organ in question. Peas, beans, and 
other leguminous seeds are, amongst vegetable articles, the richest in ni- 
trogenous matter, and hence, as common experience testifies, prove more 
trying than other vegetable products to gastric digestion. 

In febrile, acute inflammatory, and other conditions where an absence 
of digestive power prevails, it is not only useless to introduce food of the 
nature above referred to into the stomach, but absolutely pernicious, as, 
from its remaining undigested, it can only prove a source of irritation and 
disturbance. Whatever is given should be susceptible of passing on 
without requiring the exercise of functional activity on the part of the 
stomach. Hence the food in such cases should be confined to such articles 
as beef-tea, mutton-, veal-, or chicken-broth, whey, calf's foot and other 
kinds of jelly, arrow-root and such like'farinaceous articles, barley-water, 
rice-mucilage, gum-water, fruit-jelly, and the juice of fruits, as lemons, 
oranges, etc., made into drinks. Besides its objectionable nature as con- 
cerns the stomach, it may be presumed that, if nitrogenous food were di- 
gested and absorbed, it would be calculated afterward to prove obnox- 
ious to the system, on account of the products it gives rise to creating the 
demand they do for the performance of glandular eliminative work. 
With articles of the carbohydrate group, on the other hand, no such glan- 
dular work is called into requisition. Where a little latitude is allowable, 
the employment of milk, and of eggs in a fluid form, may be sanctioned. 
Bread-jelly, which is made by steeping bread in boiling water and passing 
through a sieve whilst still hot, is also an article that may be used under 
similar circumstances, either alone or boiled with milk. From this, as 
the circumstances permit, an advance may be made to solid substances 
which do not throw much work on the stomach, such as rice, sago, tapioca, 
bread and custard puddings, and stale bread or toast sopped. Next may 
be allowed fish; and the varieties to select are whiting, sole, flounder, or 
plaice, which should be boiled or broiled, and not fried. Whiting, of all 
fish, is that which proves the lightest to the stomach. As power becomes 
restored, calves' feet, chicken, game, and butcher's meat — mutton to be- 
gin with — may be permitted to follow. The exciting action of animal 
food upon the system of the invalid is exemplified by its liability to oc- 
casion a relapse in cases of rheumatic fever when administered at too early 
a period in convalescence. 

I have been referring to the appropriate food to be made use of where 
defective digestive power depends upon the general state; but cases are 
frequently presenting themselves where the source of defect primarily be- 
longs to the stomach, and equal care is required in adapting the food to 
the amount of power that exists. 

It may be advisable, in some cases, to refrain altogether for a time 
from introducing any kind of food into the stomach, and here recourse 
should be had to the employment of enemata, consisting of articles fitted 
to undergo absorption into the blood-vessels. Amongst these, in the 
foremost rank as a desirable agent for use in such cases, is a preparation 



THEKAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 357 

that has been made at my suggestion by Messrs. Darby & Gosden, of 
140 Leadenhall street, London, and called " Fluid Meat." It constitutes 
meat that has been reduced to a fluid state by artificial digestion; and, 
representing, as it does, a product of digestion, it furnishes a material in 
identically the same favorable state for absorption as that which naturally 
passes on from the stomach. It may be mixed with sugar and thickened 
with mucilage of starch or arrow-root, and, if necessary, a little brandy 
may be added. In the absence of this, the usual agents employed as nu- 
tritive enemata are concentrated beef -tea, eggs, and milk. 

In cases of ulcer of the stomach, acute gastric catarrh, and vomiting, 
whether from these or from some other cause, the food must be selected 
from that which is nutritious, and which, at the same time, taxes least 
the digestive powers. Milk — and this is often better borne after being 
boiled — milk and lime-water, or milk and soda-water, will frequently be 
found to be tolerated when other articles excite irritation and are re- 
turned. Sometimes the milk may be advantageously mixed with isin- 
glass, arrow-root, ground rice, or biscuit-powder. The addition of agents 
like the three last-named articles increases the consistence and improves 
the alimentary value of the food. They at the same time, by virtue of 
their presence, lessen the cohesiveness of the mass which is formed by the 
process of curdling which the milk undergoes on arriving in the stomach. 

Where chronic impairment of power exists, as in ordinary dyspepsia, 
the patient must be guided by what it is found from experience will 
agree. Whilst avoiding that which is known to be of an indigestible 
nature, arid whatever, through idiosyncrasy, may happen in particular in- 
stances to upset the stomach, the maxim of management should be to 
keep the diet as closely to what is natural as the circumstances of the 
case will permit. Frequently, because a person is suffering from dyspep- 
sia, he is recommended to leave off this and that article of food, and may, 
perhaps, in the course of time be reduced to taking exclusively, or almost 
exclusively, liquid nourishment. Such in itself is sufficient to lower the 
already enfeebled power of the stomach. The organ, getting no employ- 
ment, becomes weaker and weaker, and is also prejudicially influenced by 
the defectively nourished state of the system. The aim of the physician 
in these cases should be rather to raise by appropriate treatment the di- 
gestive capacity to the level of digesting light but ordinary food, than to 
reduce the food to an adjustment with a low standard of digestive power. 
The food for the dyspeptic cannot be too simple or too plainly dressed. 
Of meats, mutton is almost invariably found to be the most suitable, and 
will often sit lightly on the stomach when even beef lies heavily. Chicken 
and game are allowable, also white fish (boiled or broiled), as whiting, 
sole, etc. (but not cod). Stale bread and dry toast, floury potatoes, rice, 
and the various farinaceous articles, form the kind of food derived from 
the vegetable kingdom to be selected. 

The fatty constituents of food pass through the stomach to undergo 
emulsification or preparation for absorption in the small intestine. When 
fats are in a perfectly fresh state, and are not taken in excess, they pass 
on without giving signs of producing any effect upon the stomach. If 
taken in excess, however, they are apt to excite nausea and sickness, and 
also subsequently, from their influence in the bowels, diarrhoea. From 
their proneness to undergo change, and to give rise to the production of 
volatile fatty acids, they are likewise liable, under certain circumstances, 
to excite derangement. When delayed, for instance, for a long time in 
the stomach, this change becomes induced, and acrid eructations, with a 



358 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

burning sensation in the stomach and throat — phenomena constitutins;' 
heartburn — are apt to follow. If the fat has been exposed to a strong 
heat before being consumed, it is already partially decomposed, and now 
with great facility leads to the gastric trouble that has been referr^ed to. 
It is for this reason that anything containing fatty matter which has been 
baked, as pastry, etc., and fried articles, prove obnoxious to the stomach 
unless the digestive power is strong. Dishes consisting of meats, etc., 
cooked a second time, are similarly unsuited for the dyspeptic, on account 
of the effect of the prolonged exposure to heat that has occurred. Apart 
from exposure to heat, butter, or any other fatty article that has under- 
gone change — turned rancid, as it is termed — by keeping, is also particu- 
larly prone to upset the stomach and occasion heartburn. It is unneces- 
sary, therefore, to say, that fatty matter in the least degree rancid should 
be scrvipulously avoided by the dyspeptic. 

As with fatty matter, the principles of the carbohydrate group are 
not digested in the stomach. Similarly, also, they are liable to undergo 
change, during their sojourn in the organ, that may prove the source of 
discomfort. Starchy and saccharine matters, in certain states of the 
stomach, seem to be transformed into lactic acid to such an extent as to 
give a highly preternatural acidity to its contents. Acid eructations that 
may set the teeth on edge are apt to occur; and, as though the acid dif- 
fused itself along the mucous tract, a constantly sour taste is often expe- 
rienced in the mouth. Sweet things are more likely than starchy to give 
rise to acidity. Amongst the latter, oatmeal and potatoes seem the most, 
and rice the least, disposed to prove obnoxious. 

A result not unfrequently arising from impaired digestion is the pro- 
duction of an inordinate quantity of gas and its accumulation, so as to 
give rise to an inconvenient distention of the stomach and bowel. Vege- 
table food, it is found, is more apt to create flatulence than animal, and 
articles belonging to the cabbage tribe are particularly to be regarded as 
objectionable by those who have a tendency to this form of derangement. 

Common observation suffices to show that the bowels are susceptible 
of being in a marked manner influenced by different kinds of food: diar- 
rhoea, constipation, flatulence, and colic, constituting the effects by which 
the influence is betrayed. 

In the healthy state no particular effect is observed to be produced by 
ordinary animal food; but, as previously stated, the ingestion of a large 
quantity of fat is apt, not only to derange the stomach, but likewise the 
bowels, and thus to produce diarrhoea. 

The tendency of eggs is well known to very decidedly favor costive- 
ness. 

The alimentar}'- products derived from the farinaceous seeds, and also 
other dried farinaceous articles, are more easily borne by the bowels than 
any other kind of food. They pass with ease through the whole digestive 
tract, but, whilst their freedom from exciting action renders their employ- 
ment advantageous in irritable states of the canal, they fail to supply the 
stimulus that is needed to keep the bowels adequately moved where a 
sluggish disposition exists. 

Succulent vegetable food, on the other hand, wliether consisting of 
fruit or vegetables, has the effect of encouraging alvine evacuations, and 
thereby of promoting a free state of the intestinal canal. A liberal em- 
ployment of food of this kind is thus indicated where a costive habit pre- 
vails; and it is not unfrequently found that, by partaking to a special ex- 
tent of fruit, i)articularly in the early part of the day, persons otherwise 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 359 

troubled with constipation may succeed in procuring a proper activity of 
the bowels. Carried too far, an actual state of looseness may be estab- 
lished; and, from the excited muscular action brought about, griping or 
colickv pains may also be induced. As an extensive use of succulent vege- 
table food is indicated in cases of costiveness, so it is contraindicated 
where a tendency to looseness prevails. With some persons it very easily 
occasions colic and diarrhoea; and it is well known how readily, even with- 
out such a tendency, fruit in an unripe or overripe state gives rise to these 
phenomena. 

The leguminous seeds, peas and beans, etc., and the products derived 
from the cabbage tribe, seem to be the most prone of all alimentary arti- 
cles to give rise to intestinal flatulence. 

A dietetic measure that has long met with extensive employment for 
rendering assistance in overcoming habitual constipation is the use of 
brown instead of white bread. The particles of bran contained in it, being 
of an indigestible nature, produce a certain amount of mechanical irrita- 
tion, which is often found to supply the requisite stimulus to glandular 
and muscular action to correct the effects of a sluggish intestine where 
the want of activity is not very great. 

In dysentery, and other forms of ulcerative disease of the intestine, 
scrupulous attention requires to be paid to diet. The object to be held 
in view is to keep the intestine in as tranquil a state as practicable. 
The food should consist of articles which are known to exert the least 
stimulant and irritant action on the mucous membrane and muscular 
fibres, and those which best meet the demand in question are such as 
milk, isinglass, and the various farinaceous products, amongst which rice 
is pre-eminently valuable. Next to these come eggs, white fish (particu- 
larly whiting and sole), white-fleshed poultry, fresh game, and fresh 
meat — mutton in preference to all other kinds. Salted and dried meats 
are highly objectionable. Their pernicious effect is quickly felt, and ap- 
parently arises from their difficult digestibility in the stomach, leading to 
au undue excitement of the circulation throughout the alimentary canal. 
Fruits and succulent vegetables, with the exception of a floury potato, 
which is often easily borne, should be strictly shunned. 



DIETETIC PREPARATIONS FOR THE INVALID. 

Panada. — Take the white part of the breast and wings, freed from 
skin, of either roasted or boiled chicken; or the under side of cold sirloin 
of roasted beef; or cold roasted leg of mutton, and pound in a mortar 
with an equal quantity of stale bread. Add either the water in which the 
chicken has been boiled, or beef-tea, until the whole forms a fluid paste, 
and then boil for ten minutes, stirring all the time. 

Beef-Tea. — Mince finely one pound of lean beef and pour upon it, in 
a preserve-jar or other suitable vessel, one pint of cold water. Stir, and 
allow the two to stand for about an hour, that the goodness of the meat 
may be dissolved out. Next, stand the preserve-jar or other vessel in a 
saucepan of water, and place the saucepan over the fire or a gas-stove, and 
allow the water in it to boil gently for an hour. Remove the jar and 
pour its contents on to a strainer. The beef-tea which runs through con- 
tains a quantity of fine sediment, which is to be drunk with the liquid. 



360 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

after being flavored with salt at discretion. The jar or other vessel in 
which tlie beef-tea is made may be introduced into an ordinary oven for 
an hour, instead of being surrounded by the water in the saucepan. 

Beef-tea, thus prepared, represents a highly nutritive and restorative 
liquid, with an agreeable, rich, meaty flavor. It is a common practice, 
however, amongst cooks, to make it by putting it into a saucepan, and 
subjecting it to prolonged boiling or simmering over the Are; but the 
product then yielded constitutes in reality a soup or broth instead of a 
tea. The prolonged boiling leads to the extraction of gelatine, and the 
liquid gelatinizes on cooling (which is not the case when prepared as 
above directed), but, at the same time, the albuminous matter becomes 
condensed and agglomerated in such a manner as to subsequently form a 
part of the solid rejected residue. The liquid also loses in flavor and in- 
vigorating power. All that is wanted is that the cold infusion should be 
heated to about 170° Fahr. This just suffices to coagulate the albumen 
and coloring matter, and thus deprive the product of its character of raw- 
ness. 

The difficulty is often experienced of getting beef-tea made in the 
kitchen in a careful and proper manner; and to render the patient, as far 
as this is concerned, independent of the cook, Messrs. Darby & Gosden, 
of 140 Leadenhall street, London, have arranged, at my suggestion, a 
contrivance for conducting the process without the aid of fire or lamp in 
the sick chamber or an3'^where that may be desired. The contrivance 
consists of the Norwegian box or " nest " referred to at page 335, and a 
double tin case provided with a suitable sized central space for receiving 
the vessel containing the article to be cooked. The tin appliance is re- 
moved from the box and sent into the kitchen for the outside chamber to 
be filled with water, which is then to be made to boil over a gas-stove or 
fire. The boiling water thus provided furnishes the heat which is subse- 
quently required. The apparatus, with its store of heat, is carried back 
and deposited in the non-conducting box, and the vessel containing the 
article to be cooked is placed in the central chamber. The lid of the box 
being closed, the heat is retained and communicated to the contents of 
the central chamber. About an hour suffices for cooking a pint of beef- 
tea, but the beef-tea may be retained in the apparatus as long as may be 
desired — for several hours or all night if necessary — and will keep hot all 
the while. Other articles, as a chop, pigeon, etc., may be likewise cooked 
by the store of heat contained in the boiling water; and there is this ad- 
vantage in the use of the apparatus, that, after sufficient time has been 
allowed for the process of cooking, it does not signify whether the food 
is eaten at once or not for several hours: it is always hot and ready when- 
ever it may happen to be required. 

The apparatus is also susceptible of being turned to account for pre- 
serving a moderate store of ice in the apartment of a sick person. 

Savory Beef-tea. — Take three pounds of lean beef chopped up finely, 
three leeks, one onion with six cloves stuck into it, one small carrot, a 
little celery-seed, a small bunch of herbs, consisting of thyme, marjo- 
ram, and parsley, one teaspoonful of salt, half a teacupful of mushroom- 
ketchup, and three pints of water. Prepare according to the directions 
already furnished. 

Liebig's Beef-tea. — Take half a pound of raw lean beef (chicken or 
any other meat may be similarly used) and mince it finely. Pour on to it, 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 361 

in a o-lass or any kind of earthenware vessel, three-quarters of a pint of 
water to which has been added four drops of muriatic acid and about half 
a saltspoonf ul of salt. Stir well together, and allow it to stand for an 
hour. Strain through a hair sieve and rins© the residue w^ith a quarter of 
a pint of water. The liquid thus obtained contains the juice of the meat 
with the albumen in an uncoagulated state, and syntonine, or muscle 
fibrine, which has been dissolved by the agency of the acid. It is to be 
taken cold, or, if warmed, must not be heated beyond 120° Fahr. It will 
be observed that no cooking is here employed, and, although much richer 
in nutritive material and more invigorating than ordinary beef-tea, the 
raw-meat color, smell, and taste that it possesses sometimes cause it to be 
objected to. 

Chickex-, Veal-, or Mutton-tea. — To be prepared like beef -tea, 
substituting either of the meats referred to. 

If broths instead of a tea are required, boil the article in a saucepan 
for two hours and strain. 

Pearl barley, rice, vermicelli, or semolina may sometimes be advanta- 
geously added to give increased nourishing power. 

The fleshy part of the knuckle of veal is the best for veal-broth. 

For chicken-broth, the bones should be used as well as the flesh, and 
all chopped up. The feet strongly add to the characteristic flavor. 

Liebig's Extractum Oaristis. — This article is largely sold, and, from 
the prestige afforded by its inventor's name, has obtained a world-wide 
notoriety. Its true position, as I pointed out in my work on " Digestion, 
its Disorders and their Treatment," in 1867, is scarcely that of an article 
of nutrition, and this is now beginning to be generally recognized. The 
fact that from thirty-four pounds of meat only one pound of extract, as 
stated by Liebig, is obtained, show^s how completely the substance of the 
meat, which constitutes its real nutritive portion, must be excluded. The 
article, indeed, is free from albumen, gelatine, and fat, and may be said 
to comprise the salines of the meat, with various extractive principles, a 
considerable portion of which, doubtless, consists of products in a state of 
retrograde metamorphosis and of no use as nutritive agents. If not truly 
of alimentary value, the preparation nevertheless appears to possess stim- 
ulant and restorative properties which render it useful in exhausted states 
of the system. It may be given in extreme cases, in combination with 
wine. Being rich in the flavoring matter (termed osmazone) of meat, it 
is often used for imparting additional flavor to soups. 

Fluid Meat. — This article forms a complete representative of lean 
meat. Acting upon my suggestion, Messrs. Darby & Gosden, of 140 
Leadenhall street, undertook its preparation, and since 1867, when it was 
first introduced, it has steadily advanced into public favor. It consists of 
meat which has been liquefied by artificial digestion, and, therefore, not 
only includes all the elements of the meat, but contains them in the same 
state as they are naturally placed by the stomach — that is, in a fit state for 
absorption, without requiring any further aid from digestion. It resembles 
in character a fluid extract, and is used in various ways, either alone or in 
•combination with other articles of food. 

From the properties it possesses as a product of artificial digestion, it 
may be spoken of as forming exactly what is wanted where recourse re- 
quires to be had to the employment of nutrient enemata. Used for this 



362 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

purpose, two tablespoonfuls, which about correspond with a quarter of a 
pound of meat, may be mixed with two ounces of white sugar, and dis- 
solved in six ounces of mucilage of starch or arrow-root. 

Essences and Solid Extracts of Meat, axd Meat Lozenges. — These 
are sold at various establishments. They may be obtained, as well as a 
number of other articles for the sick room, at Mr. Van Abbott's special 
dietary depot for the invalid. No. 5 Princes street. Cavendish square, 
London; and of Messrs. Brand & Co., at No. 11 Little Stanhope street, 
Hertford street, Mayfair. Brand's '' Essence of Beef " has obtained a 
high reputation, and is very extensively employed. 

Milk and Suet. — Boil one ounce of finely chopped suet with a quarter 
of a pint of water for ten minutes, and press through linen or flannel. Then 
add one drachm of bruised cinnamon, one ounce of sugar, and three- 
quarters of a pint of milk. Boil again for ten minutes, and strain. A 
wineglassful to a quarter of a pint forms the quantity to be taken at a 
time. It constitutes a highly nutritive and fattening article, but if given 
in excess is apt to derange the alimentary canal and occasion diarrhoea. 

Flour and Milk. — Fill a small basin with flour and tie it over with a 
cloth, or, if preferred, simply tie the flour up tightly in a cloth. Immerse 
it in a saucepan of water and boil slowh'' for ten or twelve hours. The 
flour becomes agglomerated into a hard mass, and is only wetted on the 
surface. After drying, add one grated tablespoonful to a pint of milk, 
and boil. A nourishing and useful article of food for irritable states of 
the stomach and bowels, and particularly suitable in dysentery and 
diarrhoea. 

Plain biscuit-powder may be substituted, if thought proper, for the 
cooked flour. 

Egg and Brandy (Brandy Mixture). — Take four ounces of brandy, 
the same quantity of cinnamon-water, the yolks of two eggs, and half an 
ounce of loaf sugar. Rub the yolks of the eggs and sugar together, and 
add the cinnainon-water and brandy. Given in two to four teaspoonful 
doses as a restorative and stimulant. 

Bread-Jelly. — Steep stale bread in boiling water, and pass through 
a fine sieve while still hot. A light nourishing article for a weak stomach, 
which may be taken alone or after being mixed and boiled with milk. 

Oatmeal Porridge. — Mix a large tablespoonful of oatmeal with two 
tablespoonfuls of cold water. Stir well, to bring to a state of uniformity, 
and pour into a pint of boiling water in a saucepan. Boil and stir well 
for ten minutes. Flavor either with salt or sugar, as preferred. Milk 
may be used instead of water, or the boiling may be continued for half an 
hour and the porridge turned out into a soup-plate and cold milk poured 
over it: thus prepared, the porridge sets and acquires a solid consistence; 
the milk and porridge are mixed together little by little as they are eaten 
with a spoon. 

If the coarse Scotch oatmeal is used — and this is generally considered 
the best — two tablespoonfuls may be sprinkled into a pint of boiling water 
and stirred and boiled for half an hour. At the end of this time the oat- 
meal is sufficiently cooked, but many allow the porridge to continue sim- 



THERAPEUTIC DIETETICS. 363- 

mering for two or three hours. It may be turned out into a soup-plate" 
anci eaten with milk, after the manner mentioned above. 

Porridge is a nourishing article of food, but is sometimes apt to give- 
rise to water-brash and acidity, and from its slightly irritant properties, 
whilst advantageous for constipation, must be looked upon as objection- 
able where diarrhoea, or a tendency to it, exists. 

Oatmeal Gruel. — Mix thoroughly one tablespoonful of groats with 
two of cold water, and pour over them one pint of boiling water, stirring- 
all the while. Boil for ten minutes, and still continue to stir. Sweeten 
with sugar, and add, if desired, a little sherry or brandy. A soothing and 
nutritive food, holding a totally different position, on account of the nitro- 
genous matter present, from the farinaceous preparations, as arrow-root,. 
etc. Milk may be used, if required, instead of water. 

Arkow-root. — Mix thoroughly two teaspoonfuls of arrow-root with 
three tablespoonfuls of cold water, and pour on them half a pint of boil- 
ing water, stirring well during the time. If the water is quite boiling, 
the arrow-root thickens as it is poured on, and nothing more is necessary. 
If only warm .water is used, the arrow-root must be afterward boiled until 
it thickens. Sweeten with loaf-sugar, and flavor with lemon-peel or nut- 
meg, or add sherry or brandy, if required. Milk may be employed in- 
stead of water, but when this is done no wine must be added, as it would 
be otherwise curdled. 

Toics-les-mois, another farinaceous preparation, may be substituted for 
arrow-root. 

Barley-ayater. — Take two ounces of pearl barley, and wash well 
with cold water, rejecting the washings. Afterward boil with a pint and 
a half of water for twenty minutes, in a covered vessel, and strain. The 
product may be sweetened and flavored with lemon-peel, or lemon-peel 
may be introduced whilst boiling is carried on. Lemon-juice is also some- 
times added to flavor. A bland, demulcent, and mildly nutritive beverage. 

Orgeat. — Blanch two ounces of sweet almonds and four bitter almond- 
seeds. Pound with a little orange-flower water into a paste, and rub this 
with a pint of milk diluted with a pint of water until it forms an emul- 
sion. Strain and sweeten with sugar. A demulcent and nutritive liquid. 

Rice-water, or Mucilage of Rice. — Thoroughly wash one ounce 
of Carolina rice with cold water. Then macerate for three hours in a 
quart of water kept at a tepid heat, and afterward boil slowly for an hour, 
and strain. A useful drink in dysentery, diarrhoea, and irritable states 
of the alimentary canal. When circumstances permit, it may be sweet- 
ened and flavored in the same way as barley-water. 

Gum-water. — Take half an ounce to an ounce of gum arable and 
wash with cold water. Afterward dissolve by maceration in two pints of 
cold water. Lemon-peel may be added to impart flavor. 

Linseed-tea. — Place one ounce of bruised linseed and two drachms of 
bruised liquorice-root into a jug, and pour over them one pint of boiling 
water. Lightly cover, and digest for three or four hours near a flre. 
Strain through linen to render fit for use. A mucilaginous liquid possess- 



364 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

ing demulcent properties. Frequently used as a drink in pulmonary and 
urinary affections. It is rendered more palatable by the addition of 
sliced lemon and sugar-candy. 

Decoction of Iceland Moss. — Wash one ounce of the moss in cold 
water to remove impurities. Tiien heat with water up to nearly the boilino- 
point, and reject the liquid, whicli has extracted much of the bitter prin- 
ciple. Next boil with a pint of water for ten minutes in a covered vessel 
and strain with gentle pressure while hot. A mucilaginous demulcent 
liquid, with mild bitter tonic properties. It may be flavored with sugar, 
lemon-peel, wliite wine, or aromatics; or milk may be used instead of the 
water, by which a nourishing liquid is obtained. 

Decoction op Carrageen Moss. — Macerate half an ounce of Carra- 
geen moss in cold water for ten minutes. Remove and boil in three pints 
of water for a quarter of an hour, and strain through linen. It possesses 
the same kind of properties as, and may be flavored like, the decoction of 
Iceland moss. Milk, also, may be substituted for the water. By doub- 
ling the quantity of the moss a mucilage is obtained, and when in a highly 
concentrated state the product solidifies into a jelly on cooling. 

WiiEY. — Curdle warm milk with rennet, and strain off the opalescent 
liquid for use. It acts as a sudorific and diuretic, and forms a useful 
drink in febrile and inflammatory complaints. Holding a little nitrogen- 
ous matter in solution, and containing the lactine and saline matter of the 
milk, it possesses mildly nutritive properties. 

White Wine Wiiey or Posset. — To half a pint of milk whilst boil- 
ing in a saucepan, add one wineglassful of sherry, and afterward strain. 
Sweeten with pounded sugar, according to taste. A useful drink in colds 
and mild febrile disorders. 

Treacle Wiiey or Posset. — Pour two or three tablespoonfuls of 
treacle into a pint of boiUng milk, and afterward let it boil up well and 
strain. Drunk hot, it is frequently used as a diaphoretic for a common 
cold. 

Ta^earind Whey. — Stir two tablespoonfuls of tamarinds into a pint 
of milk whilst boiling, and afterward strain. It forms a refrigerant and 
slightly laxative drink. 

Cream of Tartar Whey. — Stir a quarter of an ounce of cream of 
tartar (a large teaspoonful piled up) into a pint of boiling milk, and strain, 
A refrigerant and diuretic drink, which is rendered more agreeable by the 
addition of sui>'ar. 

Alum Whey. — Add a quarter of an ounce of powdered alum to a pint 
of boiling milk and strain. An astringent drink. May be flavored with 
sugar and nutmeg if desired. 

Cream ok Tartar Drink {Potus Imperialis — ImpcrlaT). — Dissolve 
a drachm or a drachm and a half of cream of tartar in a pint of boiling 
water, and flavor with lemon-peel and sugar. When cold, may be taken 
ad Ubltuni, as a refrigerant drink and diuretic. 



THEKAPEUTIC DIETETICS. S65 

Lemon-peel Tea. — Pare the rind thinly from a lemon which has been 
previously rubbed with half an ounce of lump-sugar. Put the peelings 
and the sugar into a jug and pour over them a quart of boiling water. 
When cold decant the liquid, and add one tablespoonful of lemon-juice. 

Lemonade. — Pare the rind from a lemon thinly and cut the lemon 
into slices. Put the peel and sliced lemon into a jug, with one ounce of 
white sugar, and pour over them one pint of boiling water. Cover the 
jug closely, and digest until cold. Strain or pour oft" the liquid. 

Citron may be used instead of lemon, and likewise furnishes a grate- 
ful and refreshing refrigerant beverage. 

Toast and Watek. — Toast thoroughly, short of burning, a slice of 
stale bread (or, what is better, a piece of crust) or a biscuit, and pour 
over it, in a jug, a quart of boiling water. Cover it over, and place aside 
to cool. A small piece of orange- or lemon-peel put into the jug with the 
toast greatly improves the beverage. 



HOSPITAL DIETAKIES. 



GUY'S HOSPITAL. 



FULL OR EXTRA DIET. 



14 oz. of bread. 1 pint of porter for males; ^ pint of porter for 
females. G oz. of dressed meat, roasted and boiled alternately, with po- 
tatoes (8 oz.). ^ lb. of rice pudding * three times a week. ^ pint of mut- 
ton-broth in addition on days when boiled meat is given (which is four 
times a week). Or, occasionally, 1 pint of strong vegetable soup, with 
meat and rice pudding,* twice a week. 1 oz. of butter each day. Por- 
ridge, gruel, and barley-water, as required. 

MIDDLE OR ORDINARY DIET. 

12 oz. of bread. ^ pint of porter. 4 oz. of dressed meat, roasted and 
boiled alternately, with potatoes (8 oz.). ^ lb. of rice pudding * three 
times a week. ^ pint of mutton-broth, in addition, on days when boiled 
meat is given (which is four times a week). Or, occasionally, 1 pint of 
strong vegetable soup, with meat and rice pudding,* twice a week; with 
the full diet allowance of bread. 1 oz. of butter each day. Porridge, 
gruel, and barley-water, as required. 

MILK OR PUDDING DIET. 

12 oz. of bread. 2 pints of milk, or 1 pint of milk, with rice, sago, 
or arrow-root, boiled, or made into light pudding. ^ pint of beef-tea, 
when ordered. 1 oz. of butter. Gruel and barley-water, as required. 

LOW DIET. 

10 oz. of bread. ^ pint of beef-tea, mutton-broth, rice, arrow-root, or 
sago, when specially ordered, f oz. of butter. Gruel and barley-water, 
as required. 

Tea, ^ oz. ; sugar^ f oz. ; and milk, 2^ oz., daily, with all diets. 

Fish, chops, steaks, chicken, and chicken soup, eggs, and other extras, 
are to be specially ordered by the medical attendant, and will be given 
with the low diet. Wines and spirits, if continued, must be mentioned 
each time the physician or surgeon attends. 



* Formula for the rice pudding — Rice, 3^ lbs. ; milk, 6 quarts ; sugar, 12 oz. ; but- 
ter, 1 oz. ; spice, 1 drachm. Loss of water in cooking, say 87 oz. 



HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 367 



ST. BxVRTHOLOMEWS HOSPITAL. 

FULL DIET (IklEAT). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of tea; bread and butter. 

Dinner. — ^ lb. of meat when dressed; ^ lb. of potatoes; bread and 

beer. 
Tea. — 1 pint of tea; bread and butter. 
Supper. — Bread and butter; beer. 

Daily Allowances to each Patient. — 2 pints of tea; 14 oz. of 
bread; ^ lb. of meat when dressed; ^ lb. of potatoes; 2 pints of beer 
(men) ; 1 pint of beer (women) ; 1 oz. of butter. 



HALF DIET (MEAT). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of tea; bread and butter. 

Dinner. — J lb. of meat when dressed; J lb. of potatoes; bread and 

beer. 
Tea. — 1 pint of tea; bread and butter. 
Supper. — Bread and butter; beer. 

Daily Allowances to each Patient. — 2 pints of tea; 12 oz. of 
bread. ^ lb. of meat when dressed; ^ lb. of potatoes; 1 pint of beer; 
J oz. of butter. 

BROTH DIET. 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of tea. 

Dinner. — 1^ pint of broth; 6 ounces potatoes (mashed); f oz. of but- 
ter; gruel. 

MILK DIET, 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of tea. 

Dinner. — 1^-pint of milk, or 1 pint of milk with arrow-root, rice, or sago; 

bread. 
Tea. — 1 pint of tea; bread and butter. 
Supper. — Bread and butter. Gruel. 

Daily Allow^ances to each Patient. — 2 pints of tea; 12 oz. of 
bread; 1^ pint of milk, or 1 pint of milk with arrow-root, rice, or sago; |- 
oz. of butter; gruel. 

LOW DIET. 

Bread, broth, gruel, or barley-water, as may be ordered. 

Children under 9 years to receive half allowances. 

Extras to be Specially Ordered. — Mutton chops, be'efsteaks, beef 
for beef-tea, fish, eggs, puddings, jelly, porter, ale, wine, or spirits. 

Each patient, on admission, to be placed on milk diet until a diet is 
ordered by the physician or surgeon. 



368 A TKEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL. 

DAILY ALLOWANCE— FULL DIET. 

12 oz. of bread; f oz. of butter; f pint of tea with milk and sugar for 
breakfast. The same for tea. 4 oz. of beef or mutton when dressed; 
roast or boiled alternately; -^ lb. potatoes or fresh vegetables; ^ pint of 
milk in the forenoon; porter, etc., if ordered. 

MIXED DIET. 

12 oz. of bread; f oz. of butter; | pint of tea with milk and sugar for 
breakfast. The same for tea. 4 oz. for men and 3 oz. for women of mut- 
ton when dressed; roast or boiled alternately; ^ lb. of potatoes or fresh 
vegetables; 8 oz. of rice or bread pudding alternately; ^ pint of milk. 
When iish is ordered, meat to be omitted. 

MILK DIET. 

12 oz. of bread; f oz. of butter; f pint of tea with milk and sugar for 
breakfast. The same for tea. 8 oz. of rice or bread pudding alternately; 
1^ pint of milk. 

FEVER DIET. 

4 oz. of bread; 2 pints of barley-water or gruel; 2 pints of milk. 

CHILDREN'S DIETS. 
(Intended for all Children under 10 years of age. ) 

Mixed. — 12 oz. of bread; f oz. of butter; ^ pint of milk for breakfast. 
The same for tea. 2 oz. of mutton when dressed, roast or boiled alter- 
nately; ^ lb. of potatoes or fresh vegetables; 6 oz. of rice or bread pud- 
ding; ^ pint of milk. 

Milk. — 8 oz. of bread; ^ oz. of butter; ^ pint of milk for breakfast. 
The same for tea. 6 oz. of rice or bread pudding; ^ pint of milk. 

Wine, brandy, gin, porter, mutton chops, fish, eggs, beef-tea, soda- 
water, lemonade, and other extras, to be served when specially ordered, 
sach order being renewed at each regular visit of the physician or surgeon. 

Each patient, on admission into the hospital, to be placed on milk or 
fever diet until the proper diet is ordered by the physician or surgeon. 



LONDON HOSPITAL. 

FULL DIET FOR MEN AND WOMEN. 

Daily. — 12 oz. of bread; 8 oz. of potatoes; 1 pint of porter. 

Breakfast. — Gruel. 

Dinner. — Sunday and Thursday, 6 oz. of boiled mutton.* 

Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, 6 oz. of roast mutton.* 

Tuesday and Friday, 6 oz. of roast beef.* 
Supper. — 1 pint of broth. 



Weighed when cooked and free from bone. 



HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 369 

MIDDLE DIET FOR MEN. 

The same as full diet, except 4 oz. of meat instead of 6 oz., and ^ pint 
of porter instead of 1 pint. 

ORDINARY DIET FOR WOl^IEN. 
The same as middle diet for men. 

MILK DIET FOR MEN AND WOl^IEN. 

Daily. — 12 oz. of bread. 
Beeakfast. — Gruel. 
Dinner. — 1 pint of milk. 
Supper. — 1 pint of milk. 

LOW DIET FOR IVIEN AND WOIMEN. 

Daily. — 8 oz. of bread. 
Breakfast. — Gruel. 
Dinner. — Broth. 
Supper. — Gruel or broth. 

DIET FOR CHILDREN. 

(Under 7 years of age). 

Daily. — 12 oz. of bread; ^ pint of milk. 

2 oz. of meat and 8 oz. of potatoes five times a week, and rice pud- 
ding twice a week. 

EXTRAS. 

(To be discontinued nnless order renewed by the physician or surgeon at each visit.) 

Mutton chops, beefsteaks, beef-tea, strong broth, puddings (rice, 
light, and batter, alternately. Itecipe for puddings : Rice pudding — 4 oz. 
of rice, 2 oz. of sugar; light pudding — 6 eggs, 2 oz. of sugar, 1|- oz. of 
flour; batter pudding — 4 eggs, 2 oz. of sugar, 6 oz. of flour, milk in 
each case sufficient to make up 1 quart of the mixture), eggs, bread, 
green vegetables, water-cresses, wine, spirits, porter. 



ST. GEOEGE'S HOSPITAL. 

Bread. — At discretion, to be served to the nurses at the rate of 10 oz. 
daily for each patient, and to be cut up by them. If more is re- 
quired, this will be supplied by the steward. 

Butter. — 1 oz. daily to each patient, to be served out three times a 
week. 

Tea. — To be served weekly to the nurses at the rate of ^ oz. daily for 
each patient. 

Sugar. — To be served twice a week to the nurses at the rate of 1 oz. 
daily for each patient. 

Milk. — \ pint daily for each patient, for both breakfast and tea, to be 
served to the nurses every morning. 
24 



370 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

EXTRA DIET. 

DiNiTEE. — 6 oz. of cooked meat, and j- lb. of potatoes. 1 pint of porter 

to men above 16 years of age. 
Supper. — ^ pint of milk, or 1 pint of soup if ordered. 

ORDINARY DIET. 

DrNTtTER. — 4 oz. of cooked meat for men; 3 oz. for women, j- lb. of 

potatoes. -J pint of porter to men above 16 years of age. 
SuPPEE. — J pint of milk, or 1 pint of soup if ordered. 

FISH DIET. 

Dinner. — 4 oz. plain boiled white fish (as whiting, plaice, flounders, or 

haddock). ^ lb. of potatoes. 
Supper. — J pint of milk. 

BROTH DIET. 

DiiSTS'ER. — 1 pint of broth and 6 oz. of light pudding (such as tapioca, 
sago, rice, corn-flour, or such other pudding as the superintendent 
of nurses shall arrange). 

Supper. — J- pint of milk. 

MILK DIET. 

Dlnnee. — Four days — l-J pint of rice milk. 

Three days — ^ lb. of bread or rice pudding. 
Supper. — ^ pint of milk. 

Beef-tea, Yorkshire pudding, arrow-root, etc., to be specially directed. 

Ordinary diet for children under 7 years of age to consist of 2 oz. of 
meat, 4 oz. of potatoes, and some light pudding. 



MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL. 

CONVALESCENT DIET. 

Dailt. — 10 oz. of bread. 

Breakfast. — ^ pint of milk. 

Dinner. — 12 oz. of undressed meat* (roast and boiled alternately) for 

males, 8 oz. for females, and ^ lb. of potatoes. 
Supper. — 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth. 

HALF CONVALESCENT DIET. 

Daily — 10 oz. of bread. 

Breakfast. — J pint of milk. 

Dinner. — 4 oz. of undressed meat * (roast and boiled alternately). -J lb. 

of potatoes. 
Supper. — 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth. 

* Leg and shoulder of mutton only, except on Sundays, when the same quantity 
of roast sirloin and best round of beef is issued. 



HOSPITAL DIETAEIES. 371 

PUDDING AND ORDINARY DIET. 

Daily. — 10 oz. of bread. 

Breakfast. — J pint of milk. 

Dinner. — 6 oz. of undressed meat * (roast and boiled alternately) ; ^ lb. 

of potatoes; 1 oz. of beef suet and 2 oz. of flour for pudding. 
Supper. — 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth. 

ORDINARY DIET. 

Daily. — 10 oz. of bread. 

Breakfast. — ^ pint of milk. 

Dinner. — 6 oz. of undressed meat f (roast and boiled alternately) and ^ 

lb. of potatoes.* 
Supper. — 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth. 

HALF ORDINARY DIET. 
Daily. — 10 oz. of bread. 
Breakfast. — J pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 3 oz. of undressed meat -f (roast and boiled alternately) and ^ 

lb. of potatoes. 
Supper. — 1 pint of gruel or 1 pint of broth. 

MUTTON-BROTH DIET. 
Daily. — 10 oz. of bread. 
Breakfast. — J pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 8 oz. of undressed meat (neck of mutton only), weighed with 

bone before it is dressed, served in 1 pint of broth with barley. 
Supper. — 1 pint of gruel. 

FISH DIET. 
Daily. — 10 oz. of bread. 
Breakfast. — |- pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 8 oz. of fish (whiting, sole, haddock, cod, plaice, or brill). -J lb. 

of potatoes. 
Supper. — 1 pint of gruel. 

MILK DIET. 

Daily. — 10 oz. of bread. 

Breakfast. — J pint of milk. 

Dinner. — Alternate days — rice pudding, containing 2 oz. of rice, half an 
egg, I" oz. of sugar; sago pudding, containing 1^ oz. of sago, half an 
egg, and | oz. of sugar; and bread pudding, containing bread, with 
one and a half eggs, and f oz. of sugar. Extra — custard, ^ oz. 

Supper. — 1|- pint of milk. 

SIMPLE DIET. 
Daily. — 10 oz. of bread. 
Breakfast. — ^ pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 1 pint of gruel. 
Supper. — ^ pint of milk. 

* Leg- and shoulder of mutton only, except on Sundays, when the same quantity 
of roast sirloin and best round of beef is issued. 

\ Leg and shoulder of mutton only, weighed with the bone before it is dressed. 



372 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

EXTRAS. 

For supper, meat when cooked, 3 oz. Chops, -J lb. each when trimmed. 
Ordinary beef-tea, ^ lb. of clod and sticking of beef, without bone, to a 
pint. Strong beef-tea, 1 lb. of ditto, ditto. Broth without meat: -^ lb. of 
neck of mutton with bone, to a pint; this broth is made with that for the 
patients on mutton-broth diet. Steaks: rump-steak, -^ lb., without bone. 
Tripe, chicken, oysters, greens, eggs, arrow-root, sago, jellies, porter, wine, 
spirits. 



UNIYEESITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL. 

FULL DIET. 

12 oz. of bread. 8 oz of potatoes. 6 oz. meat, dressed (roast or boiled 
leg or neck of mutton, or roast beef), f pint of broth or pea soup four 
times a week on alternate days. 4 oz. boiled rice or rice pudding made 
with milk. 1 pint of milk. 1 pint of beer.* 

MIDDLE DIET. 

12 oz. of bread. 8 oz. of potatoes. 4 oz. of meat or 8 oz. of fish 
(white). 1 pint of milk. Soup with barley, 1-^ oz. ; or beef-tea, 1 pint. 
Rice pudding made with milk, instead of soup. ^ pint of beer.* 

SPOON DIET. 

2 pints of milk. 1 pint of beef-tea. 12 oz. of bread. 2 oz. of arrow- 
root and 1 oz. of sugar made into a jelh''. 

The resident assistants to the physicians and surgeons are empowered, 
during the absence of their superior officers, to order the following extras, 
subject to the general supervision of the resident medical officer: — Malt 
liquors, spirits, port, sherry, eggs, strong beef-tea, milk, fish, chops, steaks, 
custard puddings, vegetables, and bread. Such orders to stand good for 
twenty -four hours only. 



KE^G'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL. 

MEAT DIET (MEN). 

Bread 12 oz. Milk, f pint. Meat,f 4 oz. cooked. Potatoes, ^ lb. 
Porter, ale, 1 pint. Rice or other pudding, ^ lb. 

IVIEAT DIET (WOMEN). 
Bread, 8 oz. Milk, f pint. Meat,f 4 oz. cooked. Potatoes, J lb. 
Porter or ale, -^ pint. Rice or other pudding, -^- lb. 

MILK DIET (MEN). 
Bread, 8 oz. Milk, IJ pint. Eggs, 2. Rice or other pudding, ^ lb. 

* To medical cases beer is only to be supplied when ordered. 

f Sunday, roast beef ; Monday, Thxirsday, Friday, and Saturday, roast mutton ; 
Tuesday, boiled mutton ; Wednesday, soup. 



HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 373 

MILK DIET (WOMEN). 
Bread, 6 oz. Milk, 1^ pint. Eggs, 2. Rice or other pudding, ^ lb. 

Children under 10 years of age same as milk diet for women. 

Beef-tea (on milk diet only), wine, and spirits, may be ordered by the 
resident medical oflQcers. 

Fish or mince may be added to milk diet; such addition to be author- 
ized by the signature of the visiting physician or surgeon, to be renewed 
once in each week at the least. 



ST. MAEY'S HOSPITAL. 



FULL DIET. 



Breakfast. — Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. ^ pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 6 oz. of meat (cooked). ^ lb. of potatoes. 
Tea. — Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. -^ pint of milk. 
Supper. — Gruel. 

Daily Allowance to each Patient. — 2 pints of tea with sugar, and 
■J pint of milk. 15 oz. of bread. 6 oz. of meat when dressed. ^ lb. of 
potatoes, f oz. of butter. 

ORDINARY DIET. 

Breakfast. — Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. J pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 4 oz. of meat (cooked). ■} lb. of potatoes. 
Tea. — Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. -^ pint of milk. 
Supper. — Gruel. 

Daily Allowance to each Patient. — 2 pints of tea with sugar, 
and i pint of milk. 12 oz. of bread. 4 oz. of meat when dressed. -J lb. 
potatoes, f oz. of butter. 

HALF DIET. 

Breakfast. — Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. -J pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 2 oz. of meat (cooked). ^ lb. of potatoes. 
Tea. — Tea with milk. Bread and butter. \ pint of milk. 
Supper. — Gruel. 

Daily Allowance to each Patient. — 2 pints of tea with sugar, and 
1 pint of milk. 12 oz. bread. 2 oz. of meat when dressed. ^ lb. of 
potatoes. J oz. of butter. 

BROTH DIET. 

Breakfast. — ^Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. ^ pint of milk. 
Dinner. — ^ lb. meat before dressed. 1 pint of broth. 
Tea. — Tea with sugar. Bread and butter. ^ pint of milk. 
Supper. — Gruel. 



374 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Daily Allowance to each Patient. — 2 pints of tea with sugar, and 
■J pint of milk. 12 oz. of bread. About 4 oz. of meat when dressed. 1 
pint of broth, f oz. of butter. 

SIMPLE DIET. 

2 pints of tea with sugar, and 1 pint of milk. 12 oz. of bread, f oz. 
of butter. 
SuppEB. — Gruel. 

No extras, except porter, allowed on full diet. 

No extras, to be ordered by the resident medical officers in the absence 
of the physician or surgeon, unless in cases of great urgency, a special 
report of which must be made to the physician or surgeon at his next 
visit. 



WESTMINSTEK HOSPITAL. 

FULL DIET. 
Daily. — 14 oz. of bread. 

Breakfast. — Tea (^ oz.) with milk (J pint) and sugar (|- oz. ). 
Dinner. — ^ lb. of meat, roasted, boiled, or chops. ^ lb. of potatoes. 
Supper. — Tea (^ oz). with milk (^ pint) and sugar (^- oz.). 

MIDDLE DIET. 
Daily. — 10 oz. of bread. 

Breakfast. — Tea (^ oz.) with milk (^ pint) and sugar (J oz.). 
Dinner.—^ lb. of meat, roasted, boiled, or chops. ^ lb. of potatoes. 
Supper. — Tea (^ oz.) with milk (J pint) and sugar (J oz.). 

LOW DIET (FIXED). 

Daily. — J lb. of bread. 

Breakfast. — Tea (^ oz.) with sugar {^ oz.) and milk (J pint). 

Dinner. — No fixed diet. 

Supper. — Tea (J oz.) with sugar (-J- oz.) and milk (|- pint). 

LOW DIET (CASUAL). 

1 pint of broth (from 2 oz. of meat), or ^ lb. of bread or rice pudding, 
or 1 pint of beef-tea (from 4 oz. of beef), or a chop, or fish. 

Composition of bread pudding. — Bread, J lb. Milk, :ipint. Sugar, 
Joz. Flour, ^ oz. 1 egg for every 2 lbs. 

Composition of rice pudding. — Rice, 1^ oz. Milk, ^ pint. Sugar, 
ioz. 

SPOON OR FEVER DIET. 

Daily. — ^ lb. of bread. 

Breakfast. — Tea (^ oz.) with sugar (f oz.) and milk (J pint). 
Dinner. — Barley water (from 2 oz. of prepared barley). 
Supper. — Tea (| oz.) with sugar (f oz.) and milk (^ pint). 



HOSPITAL DIETAEIES. 375 

EXTRAS. 

Porter, or wine, or spirits. No other extras to be allowed with full or 
middle diet. 

Every patient admitted into the hospital is to be placed upon low diet, 
until a diet is ordered by the physicians or surgeons. 

No extras to be placed on the diet roll by the apothecary, or to be 
provided by the steward or matron, other than those specified as above. 

Note. — Arrow-root, sago, vermicelli, or coffee, allowed as extras to 
low and spoon diet, on the written order of the medical officers, communi- 
cated to the matron. 

INCURABLES' DIET. 

Bread, f lb. Meat, ^ lb. Potatoes, ^ lb. Milk, ^ pint. Porter, 1 
pint. Each daily, when not otherwise ordered. 



SEAMEN'S HOSPITAL. 



FULL DIET. 



1 lb. of bread, f lb. of meat — viz., two days roast mutton, one day 
boiled mutton, four days boiled beef, f lb. of potatoes. 1 pint of soup 
(on boiled meat days). 

MUTTON (OR EXTRA) DIET. 

1 lb. of bread, f lb. of roast mutton (boiled on Tuesdays), f lb. of 
potatoes. 1 pint of soup (on boiled meat day). 

ORDINARY DIET. 

1 lb. of bread. ^ lb of meat — viz., two days roast mutton, one day 
boiled mutton, four days boiled beef. -J lb. of potatoes. 1 pint of soup 
(on boiled meat days). 

LOW DIET. 
•J- lb. of bread. 1 pint of beef-tea. 

MILK DIET. 

1 lb. of bread. 1 quart of milk. 1 pint of beef -tea. 

Tea with milk and sugar, morning and evening, with all diets. 



. LEEDS GENEKAL INTIEMAEY. 

LOW DIET (ADULTS). 

Breakfast. — 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea. 
Dinner. — 4 oz. of bread. 1 pint of broth. 
Tea. — 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea. 
Supper. — 1 pint of rice milk. 



376 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

LOW DIET (CHILDREN). 

Beeakfast. — 4 oz. of buttered bread. -J pint of tea. 

Dinner. — 2 oz. of bread. ^ pint of broth. 4 oz. of rice pudding. 

Tea. — 4 oz. of buttered bread. -J pint of tea. 

ORDINARY DIET (ADULTS). 

Beeakfast. — 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea. 

Dinner. — Meat, 4 oz. (Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, boiled beef; 

Monday, roast beef; Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, roast mutton). 

8 oz. potatoes. 
Tea. — 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea. 
Supper. — 1 pint of rice milk. 

ORDINARY DIET (CHILDREN). 

Breakfast. — 4 oz. of buttered bread. -J pint of tea. 

Dinner. — Meat, 2 oz. (Sunday and Friday, boiled beef; Monday and 

Wednesday, roast beef; Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, roast 

mutton). 4 oz. of potatoes. 
Tea. — 4 oz. of buttered bread. ^ pint of tea. 

FULL DIET (ADULTS). 

Breakfast. — 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea. 

Dinner. — Meat, 5 oz. (Sunday and Friday, boiled beef; Monday and 
Wednesday, roast beef; Tuesday and Saturday, roast mutton; Thurs- 
day, boiled mutton). 8 oz. of potatoes. -^ pint of broth. 

Tea. — 8 oz. of buttered bread. 1 pint of tea. 

Supper. — 1 pint of rice milk. 



MA:NtCHESTEE EOYAL mFIEMAEY Al^D DISPENSAEY. 

GENEROUS DIET. 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of tea or coffee. 6 oz. of bread, f oz. of butter. 

Or boiled bread and milk; or porridge with milk. 
Dinner. — Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday — 6 oz. of beef, 
roasted. 4 oz. of bread. 8 oz. of potatoes. 
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — 6 oz. of mutton, boiled. 
4 oz. of bread. 8 oz. of potatoes. 
This diet to be changed on the alternate weeks, ^.e., on one week, four 
days the beef is to be roasted and three days the mutton boiled; on the 
other week, four days the mutton is to be roasted and three days the beef 
boiled, as indicated above. 
Supper. — The same as breakfast, except that no coffee is allowed. 

COMMON DIET. 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of tea or coffee. 5 oz. of bread. ^ oz. of butter. 

Or boiled bread and milk; or porridge with milk. 
Dinner. — Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday — 6 oz. of beef roasted. 4 oz. 
of bread. 8 oz. of potatoes. 



HOSPITAL DIETAEIES. 377 

Dinner. — Monday — 1 pint of good soup. 2 oz. of roast meat and pota- 
toes. 4 oz. of bread. 
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday — ^Potato hash, with 4 oz. 
of bread; or the option of having cold meat, with 8 oz. of 
potatoes, and 4 oz. of bread. 

SuPPEE. — The same as breakfast, except that no coiBfee is allowed. 

MILK DIET. 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of tea or coffee. 5 oz. of bread. -J oz. of butter. 

Or boiled bread and milk, with porridge and milk. 
Dinner, — Sunday and Wednesday — J pint of milk. 12 oz. of semolina 
pudding. 
Monday, Thursday, and Saturday — |- pint of milk. 12 oz. of 

rice pudding. 
Tuesday and Friday — |- pint of milk. 12 oz. of bread pud- 
ding. 
At the option of the medical and surgical officers, ^ pint of beef-tea 
may be substituted for the -J- pint of milk. 
Supper. — The same as breakfast, except that no coffee is allowed. 

LOW DIET. 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of tea. 3 oz. of bread. 
Dinner. — 1 pint of gruel. 2 oz. of bread. 
Supper. — Water gruel or tea. 3 oz. of bread. 



BIRMINGHAIVI GENEKAL HOSPITAL. 

LOW DIET (MEN AND WOMEN). 
Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 8 oz. of rice or sago pudding. 1 pint of broth for lunch. 12 

oz. of bread. 
Supper. — 1 pint of broth or gruel. 

LOW DIET (CHILDREN). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 

Dinner. — 8 oz. of rice or sago pudding. 6 oz. of bread. 

Supper. — ^ pint of broth or gruel. 

MILK DIET (MEN AND WOMEN). 
Breakfast.— 1 pint of milk. 
Dinner.— 12 oz. of bread. 1^ pint of milk. 
Supper. — 1 pint of broth or gruel. 

MILK DIET (CHILDREN). 
Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 
Dinner. — 6 oz. of bread. 1^ pint of milk. 
Supper. — |- pint of broth or gruel. 



378 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

HOUSE DIET (MEN AND WOMEN). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 

Dinner. — Cooked meat (4 oz. men, 3 oz. women). 8 oz. of potatoes. 12 

oz. of bread. 
Supper. — 1 pint of broth or gruel. 

HOUSE DIET (CHILDREN). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 

Dinner. — 2 oz, of cooked meat. 6 oz. of potatoes. 6 oz. of bread. 

Supper. — J pint of broth or gruel. 

IVIUTTON DIET (AIEN AND WOIMEN). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 

Dinner. — Cooked mutton (4 oz. men, 3 oz. women). 8 oz. of potatoes. 

12 oz. of bread. 
Supper. — 1 pint of broth or gruel. 

MUTTON DIET (CHILDREN). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 

Dinner. — 2 oz. of cooked mutton. 6 oz. of potatoes. 6 oz. of bread. 

Supper. — J pint of broth or gruel. 

FULL DIET (MEN AND WOltfEN). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 

Dinner. — Cooked meat (6 oz. men, 4 oz. women). 8 oz. potatoes. 12 

oz. of bread. 
Supper. — 1 pint of broth or gruel. 

FULL DIET (CHILDREN). 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of milk. 

Dinner. — 2 oz. of cooked meat. 6 oz. of potatoes. 6 oz. of bread. 

Supper. — J pint of broth or gruel. 



]SrEWCASTLE-UPO:N^-TYl!^E INFIKMAEY. 

COMMON DIET. 

Breakfast. — 1 pint of porridge and 1 gill of milk, or 1 pint of tea. 

Luncheon. — J pint of soup. 

Dinner. — 6 oz. of beef or mutton (roast, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, 
and Saturday; boiled, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and pota- 
toes. 

Tea. — 1 pint of tea. 

Supper. — Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 1 gill of milk. 
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 1 gill of boiled rice and milk. 

Every male to have 14 oz. of bread, and every female 12 oz., daily. 
Every male to have six oz. of meat, and every female 5 oz., daily. 



HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 379 

MILK DIET. 

Beeakfast. — 1 pint of porridge and 1 gill of milk, or 1 pint of tea. 
DiNNEE. — Sunday and Thursday, rice pudding and 1 gill of milk. Mon- 
day, Wednesday, and Friday, 1 pint of broth mixed with barley. 
Tuesday and Saturday, 1 pint of boiled rice and milk. 
Tea. — 1 pint of tea. 

SuPPEE. — Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 1 gill of milk. 
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 1 gill of boiled rice and milk. 
Every male to have 12 oz. of bread, and every female 10 oz., daily. 
All extras only by order of the medical officers. 



EDmBURGH ROYAL ESTFIRMARY. 

LOW DIET. 

Beeakfast. — Bread, 3 oz. Tea, ^ pint (tea, ^ oz. ; milk, 1 oz. ; sugar, 

i oz-)- 
DiNNEE. — Panada (bread, 3 oz.; milk, 2 oz.; sugar, ^ oz.). 

SuPPEE. — Bread, 3 oz. Tea, |- pint (tea, ^ oz.; milk, 1 oz.; sugar, |- oz.). 

RICE DIET. 

Beeakfast. — Bread, 3 oz. Coffee, -J pint (coffee, j- oz.; milk, 2 oz.; sugar, 

■| oz.). One egg. 
DiNNEE. — Beef-tea (from 8 oz. of meat), ^ pint. Rice pudding (rice, 1|- 

oz. ; sugar, ^ oz.; milk, 2^ oz; half an egg; essential oil of lemon, 

1 drop). 
SuPPEE. — Bread, 3 oz. Tea, ^ pint (tea, ^ oz. ; milk 1 oz. ; sugar, |- oz.). 

STEAK DIET. 

Beeakfast. — Bread, 6 oz. Coffee, ^ pint (coffee, |- oz.; milk, 2 oz. ; 

sugar, ^ oz.). 
DiNXEE. — Potatoes, 16 oz. Beefsteak,* 4 oz. Broth, 1 pint (barley, 1 

oz. ; vegetables, f oz. ; meat, 2 oz.). 
Stjppee. — Bread, 6 oz. Tea, J pint (tea, ^ oz. ; milk, 1 oz. ; sugar, ^ oz.). 

STEAK DIET WITH BREAD. 

This is the same as " Steak Diet," except that 6 oz. of bread are sub- 
stituted at dinner for potatoes, and ^ of a pint of beef-tea for broth. 

COMMON DIET. 

Beeakfast. — Bread, 6 oz. Coffee, ^ pint (coffee, J oz.; milk, 2 oz.; 

sugar, ^ oz.). 
DiNNEE. — Potatoes, 16 oz. Broth, 1 pint (barley, 1 oz. ; vegetables, f oz. ; 

meat, 2 oz.). 
SuPPEE. — Bread, 6 oz. Tea, ^ pint (tea, ^ oz.; milk, 1 oz. ; sugar, ^ oz.). 

* In this and all the other diets, the weight is to be understood as applying to the 
food before being cooked. 



380 A TEEATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS, 

COMMON DIET WITH BREAD. 
The same as " Common Diet," except that 6 oz. of bread are substi- 
tuted at dinner for potatoes, 

FULL DIET. 

Breakfast. — Porridge, 1^ pint — made of oatmeal, 4J- oz. Buttermilk 

1 pint (20 oz.). 
Dinner. — Boiled meat, 6 oz. Potatoes 16 oz. Bread 3 oz. Broth (barley, 

loz. ; vegetables, f oz. ; meat, 2 oz.). 
Supper. — Potatoes, 16 oz. New milk, -J- pint (10 oz.), 

FULL DIET WITH BREAD. 

The same as " Full Diet," except that bread, 8 oz., is substituted for 
potatoes and bread at dinner; and bread, 6 oz., for potatoes at supper. 

EXTRA DIET. 

Breakfast. — Porridge, 2 pints — made of oatmeal, 6 oz.; buttermilk, 1 

pint (20 oz.). 
Dinner. — Boiled meat, 8 oz. Potatoes, 20 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Broth, 1 pint 

(barley, 1 oz. ; vegetables, | oz. ; meat, 2 oz.). 
Supper. — Potatoes, 20 oz. New milk, 15 oz. 



GLASGOW EOYAL INFIKMAEY. 

ORDINARY DIET. 

Breakfast. — Bread, 4 oz. Butter, salt (or fresh, if specially ordered), 
•J oz. Tea, 4 gills. 

Dinner. — Bread, 6 oz. Broth or soup, 2 pints. Beef or mutton, boiled 
(cooked weight, free of bone), 4 oz.; or, beefsteak (uncooked 
weight, trimmed and free of bone), 4 oz. ; or, mutton chop (un- 
cooked weight, bone included), 6 oz.; or, chicken, one-fifth part of a 
fowl; or, fresh fish (cleaned weight), 8 oz. Potatoes, when in sea- 
son, instead of bread, 1 lb. Beef-tea may be specially ordered in- 
stead of broth or soup, but, as a rule, beef-tea with bread is a din- 
ner without beef or mutton. 

Supper. — Bread, 4 oz. Butter, ^ oz. Coffee, 4 gills. 

MILK DIET. 

Breakfast. — Bread, 4 oz. Milk, 4 gills. 
Dinner. — Rice, 2 J oz. Milk, 4 gills. 
Supper. — Bread, 4 oz. Milk, 4 gills. 

ROTATION OF BROTH OR SOUPS. 

Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, broth. Monday and Thursday, 
rice soup. Tuesday and Saturday, pea soup. 

Chicken soup. Beef-tea, 



HOSPITAL DIETAEIES. 381 

EXTRAS, WHICH CAN BE HAD TO ORDER. 

Porridge and buttermilk — 4 oz. meal and 4 gills of milk. Milk, sweet, 
to porridge, 2 gills. Milk, for drink, 2 gills. Milk, warm, 2 gills. 1 
egg. Sago, arrow-root, corn-flour, 2 oz. Biscuits. Strong beef-tea. 
Dry tea 2 oz., and 8 oz. sugar, for a week's supply. 



EICHMOISTD, WHITWOETH, AND HAEDWICKE HOSPI- 
TALS (DUBLm). 

LOW DIET (RICHMOND AND WHITWORTH). 

Breakfast. — Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint. 

DiN^KEE. — Bread, 4 oz. New milk, f pint. 

Supper. — Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint. Whey, 1 pint. 

LOW DIET (HARDWICKE). 

Breakfast. — Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint. 
Dinner. — Bread, 4 oz. New milk, f pint. 
Supper. — Tea, f pint. "Whey, 1 pint. 

Extras Allowed. — 1 egg. Arrow-root, f pint; or beef -tea, f pint, 
or new milk, f pint, or rice milk f pint. Wine, or brandy, or gin, or 
whiskey, or porter, -J- pint, as specially ordered. 

MIDDLE DIET. 

Breakfast. — Bread, 6 oz. Tea, f pint. 

Dinner. — Bread, 6 oz. Beef, boiled (exclusive of bone), J lb., with 

broth, f pint. 
Supper. — Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint. 

Extras Allowed. — 1 egg. New milk, f pint; or porter, J pint; or 
gin or wine, not exceeding 4 oz. 

MUTTON DIET. 

Breakfast. — Bread, 6 oz. Tea, f pint. 

Dinner. — Bread, 6 oz. Mutton, boiled (exclusive of bone), -J lb 

Supper. — Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint. 

Extras Allowed. — 1 egg. New milk, J pint; or porter, |- pint; or 
wine, not exceeding 4 oz. Fresh vegetables as ordered. 

FULL DIET. 

Breakfast. — Bread, 8 oz. Tea, f pint. 

Dinner. — Bread, 8 oz. ; or potatoes, 1 lb. Beef, boiled (exclusive of 

bone), -J- lb., with broth, f pint. 
Supper. — Bread, 4 oz. Tea, f pint. 
Extras Allowed. — New milk, f pint; or porter, -J pint. 



382 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 

Beef, with broth, to be given for dinner on five days in each week to 
patients on middle diet. On Wednesdays and Fridays f pint of gruel to 
be substituted. 

Potatoes, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to patients on full 
diet, instead of bread. 

Formularies. 

Tea (6 pints). — Tea, IJ- oz. Sugar, 4 oz. New milk, J pint. 

Beef with Broth (6 pints). — Beef (exclusive of bone), 4 lb. Barley, 
•| lb. Oatmeal, 2 oz. Parsley, 1 oz. Thyme, ^ oz. Onions or leeks, ^ 
lb. Pepper and salt to taste. 

Beef-tea (6 pints). — Beef (lean, without bone), 4 lb. Pepper and salt 
to taste. 

Whet. — New milk, 1 quart. Buttermilk, 1 pint. 

Geuel (6 pints). — Oatmeal, 12 oz. Sugar, 3 oz. Ginger to flavor. 
Steep the meal from night before; boil for two hours. 

Aeeow-eoot (f pint). — Arrow-root, J oz. Sugar, ^ oz. New milk, f 
pint. 



BETHLEHEM LUNATIC HOSPITAL. 

Beeakfast. — Every day — Tea, with 7 oz. of bread and butter for males, 

and 6 oz. for females. 
DiiSTNEE. — Every day, except Saturday — 4 oz. of bread, f lb. of vegeta- 
bles, and 1 pint of beer, with 6 oz. for males and 5 oz, for females of 
boiled beef (free from bone) on Sunday; roast mutton on Monday 
and Thursday; boiled mutton on Tuesday and Friday; and roast beef 
on Wednesday. Saturday — Meat pie (16 oz. males, 14 oz. females). 
4 oz. of bread. 1 oz. of cheese. Beer (males 1 pint, females ^ pint). 
SUPPEE. — Males, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, same 
as at breakfast; Wednesday and Saturday, 7 oz. of bread, 2 oz of 
cheese, 1 pint of beer. Females^ every day, same as at breakfast. 
Patients in employment in the grounds, workshops, or laundry, to be 
allowed 4 oz. of bread, 1 oz. of cheese or|- oz. of butter, and ^ pint of beer 
for luncheon; and \ pint of beer in the afternoon. 

Every patient to be allowed If oz. of tea, 8 oz. of sugar, 8 oz. of but- 
ter, and 1-J pint of milk, weekly. 

On Christmas Day the dinner to be roast beef and plum pudding. On 
New Year's Day a mince pie to be added to the usual fare. On Good 
Friday a bun. On Easter and Whit Monday 6 oz. of roast veal to be al- 
lowed instead of the usual meat for the day. 

The dinners to be further varied by the occasional substitution of pork 
and bacon, when peas and beans are in season; and also by the occasional 
substitution of fish, and fruit pies, when fish and fruit are plentiful and 
good. 

The sick to be dieted at the discretion of the resident physician. 
The attendants to have at all times the means of obtaining gruel for 
such patients as may require it. 

The above to be considered maximum allowances, and all quantities 
unconsumed are to be taken in diminution of the next supply from the 
stores of the Hospital. 



HOSPITAL DIETAEIES. 383 



ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL FOE LUNATICS. 

MALE DIETAEY. 

Breakfast. — Cocoa, ^ oz. Milk, ^ pint. Sugar, ^ oz. Bread, 8 oz. 

Butter, |- oz. 
Dinner. — 

Sunday. — Cooked meat, with bone, 6 oz. Potatoes, 12 oz. Bread, 

6 oz. Beer, 1 pint. Pudding (farinaceous or fruit), 6 oz. 
Monday. — Meat pie, with potatoes, 12 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, 1 

pint. 
Tuesday. — Cooked meat, with bone, 8 oz. Bread, 6 oz. Beer, 1 

pint. 
Wednesday. — Meat pudding, 12 oz. Potatoes, 8 oz. Bread, 3 oz. 

Beer, 1 pint. 
Thursday. — Same as Tuesday. 
Friday. — Cooked meat, with bone, 8 oz. Potatoes, 12 oz. Bread, 6 

oz. Beer, 1 pint. 
Saturday. — Same as Tuesday and Thursday. 
Tea. — Tea, \ oz. Sugar, ^ oz. Milk, -J pint. Bread, 8 oz. Butter, |-oz. 



FEMALE DIETARY. 

Breakfast. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of bread. 
Dinner. — 

Sunday. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of meat, 4 oz. of potatoes, and 

i pint of beer. 
Monday. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of pie and J pint of beer. 
Tuesday. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of meat and ^ pint of beer. 
Wednesday. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of meat pudding, 2 oz. of 

potatoes, and ^ pint of beer. 
Thursday. — Same as Tuesday. 
Friday. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of meat, 4 oz. of potatoes, and 

^ pint of beer. 
Saturday. — Same as for Tuesday and Thursday. 
Tea. — Same as for males. 

1 pint of beer, 8 oz. of bread, and 2 oz. of cheese, may be had for sup-" 
per in place of the ordinary tea by those male patients for whom the 
medical officer shall think it desirable. 

Patients employed in work for the hospital to be allowed 4 oz. of 
bread, 1 oz. of cheese, and ^ pint of beer for lunch. 

The dinners may be varied by the occasional substitution of pork, 
bacon, salt beef, or veal, when in season; and also the occasional substitu- 
tion of fish and fruit pies, when either are plentiful and good. 

Lettuce during the summer months may be substituted occasionally 
for other vegetables. 

The sick to be dieted at the discretion of the medical officers. 
The above to be considered maximum allowances; and all quantities 
unconsumed to be returned to the kitchen. 



384 A TREATISE O^ FOOD ANT> DIETETICS. 

ha:n^well ltjnatic asylum. 

DIET TABLE FOR PATIENTS EMPLOYED. 

Beeakfast. — 

Males. — Cocoa, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Butter, ^ oz. 
Females. — Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 5 oz. Butter, ^ oz. 
Luncheon.— 

Males. — Bread, 3 oz. Cheese, 1 oz. Beer, \ pint. 
Females. — Bread, 3 oz. Cheese, 1 oz. Beer, \ pint. 
Dinner. — 
Males — 

Sunday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (roast pork, beef or mut- 
ton), 5 oz. Vegetables, 9 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, ^ 
pint. 
Monday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled bacon or pickled 
pork), 5 oz. Vegetables, 16 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, 
\ pint. 
Tuesday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled Australian beef 
or mutton), 5 oz. Vegetables, 9 oz. Dumplings, 4 
oz. Beer, \ pint. 
Wednesday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (meat pies), 3 oz. Pie, 

4 oz. Vegetables, 12 oz. Beer, \ pint. 
Thursday. — Fish (fried or boiled, with melted butter), 10 oz. Vege- 
tables, 9 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, \ pint. 
Friday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled bacon or pickled 
pork), 5 oz. Vegetables, 16 oz. Dumplings, 4 oz. 
Beer, \ pint. 
Saturday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (Irish stew), 2 oz. Stew, 
16 oz. Bread, 6 oz. Beer, \ pint. 
Females — 

Sunday. — Same as for males, less 1 oz. of meat and 1 oz. of vege- 
tables. 
Monday. — Same as for males, less 1 oz. of meat and 4 oz. of vege- 
tables. 
Tuesday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled beef or mutton), 
4 oz. Vegetables, 12 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, \ pint. 
Wednesday. — Same as for males. 

Thursday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled Australian beef 
or mutton), 4 oz. Vegetables, 8 oz. Bread, 3 oz. 
Beer, \ pint. 
Friday. — Fish (fried or boiled, with melted butter), 8 oz. Vege- 
tables, 8 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, \ pint. 
Saturday. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of bread. 

SUPPEE. 

Males. — Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Butter, \ oz. 

Females. — Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 5 oz. Butter, \ oz. ^ 

DIET FOR PATIENTS NOT EMPLOYED. 

Breakfast. — 

Males. — Cocoa, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Butter, \ oz. 
Females. — Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 5 oz. Butter, \ oz. 



HOSPITAL DIETARIES. 385 

Dinner. — 

Males — 

Sunday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (roast pork, beef, or mut- 
ton), 5 oz. Vegetables, 9 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, 
4- pint. 

Monday. — Soup, thickened with oatmeal, rice, and peas, and con- 
taining 2 oz. of meat for each patient, with a pro- 
portion of Ramornie Extract, 1 pint. Bread 6 oz. 
Beer, -J pint. 

Tuesday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled Australian beef or 
mutton), 5 oz. Vegetables, 9 oz. Dumplings, 4 oz. 
Beer, \ pint. 

Wednesday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (meat pies), 3 oz. 
Pie, 4 oz. Vegetables, 12 oz. Beer, -^ pint. 

Thursday. — Fish (fried or boiled, with melted butter), 10 oz. 
Vegetables, 9 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, -^ pint. 

Friday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled bacon or pickled 
pork), 5 oz. Vegetables, 16 oz. Dumplings, 4 oz. 
Beer, ^ pint. 

Sunday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (Irish stew), 2 oz. Stew, 
16 oz. Bread, 6 oz. Beer, ^ pint. 

Females — 

Sunday. — Same as for males, less 1 oz. of meat and 1 oz. of veg-e- 
tables, 

Monday. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of bread. 

Tuesday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled bacon or pickled 
pork), 4 oz. Vegetables, 12 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, 
i pint. 

Wednesday. — Same as for males. 

Thursday. — Cooked meat, free from bone (boiled Australian beef 
or mutton), 4 oz. Vegetables, 8 oz. Bread 3 oz. Beer, 
i pint. 

Friday. — Fish (fried or boiled, with melted butter), 8 oz. Vege- 
tables, 8 oz. Bread, 3 oz. Beer, ^ pint. 

Saturday. — Same as for males, less 2 oz. of bread. 

Supper. — 

Males — Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 6 oz. Butter, \ oz. 
Females — Tea, 1 pint. Bread, 5 oz. Butter, \ oz. 

2 oz. of cheese and 1 pint of beer given to male patients for supper in 
lieu of 1 pint of tea and \ oz. of butter, if requested. 

Formularies. 

For 1 pint of cocoa — \ oz. of cocoa, 1 oz. of treacle, and -|- pint of milk. 

For 1 pint of tea — \ oz. of tea, \ oz. of sugar, and \ pint of milk. 

Irish stew (liquor of the meat cooked the previous day), with 2 oz. 
cooked Australian meat (and a proportion of Ramornie Extract), and 12 
oz. of vegetables for each patient. 

Currant dumplings (made with dripping or suet) are given every third 
Saturday, in lieu of stew, 12 oz. to the males and 11 oz. to the females. 
\ pint beer at 4 p.m., and tobacco and snuff, for working patients. 
25 



886 A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIETETICS. 



COLISTEY HATCH LUNATIC ASYLUM. 

MALES. 

Beeakpast. — 6 oz. of bread, and ^ oz. of butter. 1 pint of cocoa. 
Dinner — 

Monday. — 9 oz. of pie (containing 4 oz. of meat). 9 oz. of vege- 
tables, "I" pint of beer. 

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. — 5 oz. of cooked meat. 
9 oz. of vegetables. 4 oz. of bread. -^ pint of beer. 

Wednesday. — 1 pint of stevr, and 6 oz. of bread, as on Saturday; 
or 8 oz. of fish, 9 oz. of vegetables, and 4 oz. of 
bread. ^ pint of beer (with either dinner). 

Saturday. — 1 pint of Irish stev^ (made with 3 oz. of meat and the 

liquor from meat of previous day, 12 oz. of potatoes 

and other vegetables, and 1 oz. dumpling). 6 oz. of 

bread. ^ pint of beer. 

Tea or Supper. — 6 oz. of bread. 2 oz. of cheese or |- oz. of butter. ^ 

pint of beer or 1 pint of tea. 

FEMALES. 

Breakfast. — 5 oz. of bread, and ^ oz. of butter. 1 pint of tea. 
Dinner. — 

Monday. — 9 oz. of pie (containing 4 oz. of meat). 8 oz. of vege- 
tables. ^ pint of beer. 

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. — 4 oz. of cooked meat. 
8 oz. of vegetables. 4 oz. of bread. |- pint of beer. 

Wednesday. — 1 pint of soup (made with 4 oz. of meat and the 
liquor from meat of previous day, peas, rice, 'Scotch 
barley, herbs, etc.), and 5 oz. of bread; or 8 oz. 
of fish, 8 oz. of vegetables, and 4 oz. of bread; 
or 12 oz. of currant dumpling. ^ pint of beer (with 
either dinner). 

Saturday. — 1 pint of Irish stew (made with 3 oz. of meat and the 
liquor from meat of previous day, 12 oz. of potatoes 
and other vegetables, and 1 oz. dumpling). 6 oz. of 
bread. ^ pint of beer. 
Tea. — 5 oz. of bread. -J oz of butter. 1 pint of tea. 



INDEX. 



Absinthe, 268 

Abstinence from food, 324 

Abulilon esculentum, flowers of, 186 

Abyssinia, raw meat eaten in, 312 

Acajou nut, 171 

Acarus domesticus, or cheese mite, 130 

f arinee, or flour mite, 155 
Acetic acid, 73, 82 
Acorn coffee, 231 
Acorns, 168 
Acroleine, 334 

Adipocere, production of, 52 
Aerated bread, 151 
Africa, food in the different parts of, 311- 

314 
Africans, East, food of, 313 
Agaricus campestris, 187 

muscarius, 188 

prunulus, 189 
Agouti, 133 
Air, preservation of food by exclusion of, 

271 
Alagtaga, 134 
Alaria esculenta, 183 
Albatross, 137 
Albumen, 18, 25 

Mulder's analysis of 39, 48 

as a force-producing agent, 49, 50 

insufficient to sustain life, 275 

acid, 19 

vegetable, 19 
Albuminose, or peptone, 20 

production of, 8, 23, 24 
Albuminous group of alimentary princi- 
ples, 18 
Alcohol, 82-86, 237, 253 
Alcoholic beverages, 237-269 
Ale, 242 

Alimentary principles : their classification, 
chemical relations, digestion, assi- 
milation, and physiological usesy 
15-88 

substances, 89-269 
Alkaline secretions, effect of, 23 
Allium cepa, 184 
Almond, 169, 170 



Almond, composition of sweet, 170 

composition of bitter, 170 

sweet, furnishes a food analogous to 
milk, 339 
Alum in bread, 151 

whey, 364 
Amblyrhyncus, a genus of lizard, 138 
American cheese, 128 

Indians, iSTorth, food of, 102, 306 
Ammonia in the atmosphere, 11 

carbonate of, convertible into urea, 49 
Amygdaline, 169 
Amygdalus communis, 169 

persica, 196 
Amylic alcohol, 268 
Amyloid substance, 70, 71, 73, 74 
Anacardium occidentale, 171 
Ananassa sativa, or pineapple, 204 
Animal alimentary substances, 89-143 

foods, exceptional, 130-143 

system and a steam-engine, analogy 
between, 4, 5 
Animals, effect of different foods upon their 
character, 319 

and plants, reciprocal relation of, 13 
Anisette, 268 
Anomia ephippium, 140 
Anstie's, Dr. . experiments on the effect of 

alcohol, 83, 85, 239 
Antiseptics, preservation of food by the use 

of, 273 
Ants, white, 140 
Apium graveolens, 1 83 
Apothema of Berzelius, 255 
Appetite, a guide in regulating the supply 
of food, 320 

a measure of capacity for work, 385 
Apple. 192 

composition of, 192 
Apricot, 198 

composition of, 198 
Arabs of the Xubian desert, 313 
Arachis hypogoea, or earth-nut, 336 
Araucaria imbricata, 207 
Arctic food, 230, 304-306 
Arofol of wine. 251 



388 



IlS^DEX. 



Armadillo, 137 

Arracacha esculenta, root of, 177 

Arrack, 268 

Arrow-root, 214, 215, 363 

Brazilian, 214, 215 

British, 174 

East Indian, 214, 215 

English, 215 

Portland, 214 

Tahitan, 214 
Artichoke, 184 

Jerusalem, 176 

composition of, 177 
Artocarpus incisa and integrifolia, 206 
Arum esculentum, root of, 180 

maculatum, 214 
Ashanti campaign, use of spirits in, 238 
Asparagine, 184 
Asparagus, 184 

Aspergillus glaucus, or cheese mould, 130 
Asses' flesh eaten by the Romans, 136 
Astralagus Boeticus, 231 
Atriplex hortensis, 182 
Attacotti, cannibals of ancient Scotland, 

131 
Aubergine, or egg- apple, 186 
Australia, food of the natives of, 307, 308 
Australian preserved meat, 272 
Avena sativa, 156 
Avenine, 157 , 

Axolotl of Mexico, 139 



Bacon, 94 

composition of, 94, 95 
Baked flour, 148 
Baking, 334 

powder, 150 
Baly, Dr., 174 
Banana, 205 

composition of, 206 
Bandicoot, 133 

Banting's, Mr., diet, 318, 349-351 
Bantingism, danger of, 350 
Barberry, 200 
Barcelona nuts, 171 
Bark, 207 
Barley, 158, 159 

composition of, 158, 159 

Scotch, milled, or pot, 158 

pearl, 158 

patent, 158 

sugar, 210 

water, 159, 363 
Barral on the elimination of nitrogen, 27 
Barrow on the gluttony of the Hottentots 

and Bosjesmans, 289 
Basilisk, crested, 138 
Bassia butyracea and Parkii, 207 
Batatas edulis, or sweet potato, 172, 175, 

176 
Baudot's experiment on the effect of alco- 
hol, 83 
Beans, 166 

composition of, 166 



Beans, French, 166, 167 

composition of, 167 
Bear, 132 

Beaujolais wine, 260 
Beaver, 134 
Becker, Von, 69 
Beef, 92 

composition of, 93 

essence of, 362 

tea, 359-361 

savory, 360 

Liebig's, 360 
Beer, 241-243 
Bees, 140 

experiments on, 76 
Beet, sea, leaves of, 182 

white, 182 

chard, 184 

root, 179 

sugar from, 179, 209 
Beetles, 139 

Berber! s vulgaris, or barberry, 200 
Bernard's discovery of glycogen, 71 

experiments on the assimilation of 
sugar, 73 

on the acidification of fat, 57 

on the action of food on the urine, 24, 
318, 321 
Bertholletia excelsa, 171 
Beta vulgaris and altissima, 179 

cicla, 182, 184 

maritima, 182 
Bethlehem Lunatic Hospital, dietary at, 

382 
Beverages, 216-269 

non-alcoholic, exhilarating, and res- 
torative, 221-236 

alcoholic, 237-269 
Bicknell, Mr., on the use of horse-flesh, 135 
Bidder's experiment on the solvent influ- 
ence of the intestinal juice, 22 
Biffins, 192 
Bigarreau cherry, 196 
Bilberry, 201 

composition of, 202 
Bile, action of, in digestion, 22, 23 

power of, to emulsify the fatty acids, 
57 
Birds' nests, soup made from, 138 
Birmingham. General Hospital dietary, 

377, 378 
Bischoff, 318 

his opinion that gelatine has a nutri- 
tive value, 55 
Biscuits, 148, 154, 156, 

composition of, 154 
Bison, 134 

its hump, 134 
Bitters, 269 
Black pudding, 95 
Blackberry, 203 

composition of, 203 
Blackcock, 103 
Bladder-lock, 183 
Blaeberry, 201 



INDEX. 



389 



Blaps sulcata, 140 

Blood of the pig and bullock, 95 

Blubber, 133 

Boiling of food, 382-334 ^ 

of water for purification, 220 
Bole (an earth eaten by theOttomacs), 141 
Bologna sausages made of asses' flesh, 136 
Bone, relative amount of, in animals, 95 

nutritive character of, 95 
Bordeaux wines, 259 
Borecole, 181 
Bosjesmans, food of, 313 

gluttony of, 289 
Bouutree, or elder, 201 
Boussingault on the production of fatty 
matter, 7, 76, 78, 79, 278 

researches on the free nitrogen of the 
atmosphere, 11 
Brandy, 266 

mixture, 362 
Brank, or buck-wheat, 164 
Brassica carapestris, 179 

napus, 185 

oleracea, 181 

rapa, or turnip, 179 
Brazil-nut, 171 
Bread, 149-152 

composition of, 152 

from unbolted flour, 88 

in times of famine, 207 

jelly, 356, 362 

barley, 159 

brown, 149, 152 

use of brown, in overcoming constipa- 
tion, 152, 359 

rye, 160, 

fruit, 206 

meal, a kind of earth, 141 
Breakfast, 327 
Brewing, 241 

Brie cheese, composition of, 129 
Bright's disease, diet for, 353 
Brill, 108 
Brinjal, 186 
Broccoli, 181 

sprouts, 182 
BroUing, 334 

Brose (beef and kale), 158 
Broths, 335 

Brown, Horace T., on the estimation of 
ammonia in atmospheric air, 12 

bread, 149, 152, 359 
Brunner's glands, secretion of, 57 
Brunton, Dr. L. , on poisonous fungi, 188 
Brassels-sprouts, 181 
Bucellas wine, 263 
Buck- wheat, 164, 165 

composition of, 165 
Budrum (oatmeal), 157 
Buffalo, 134, 306 

Bagong (an Australian moth), 140 
Bullace, 195 
Burgundy wines, 259 
Bustard, 137 
Butter, 126-128 



Butter, vegetable, 207, 208 
Buttermilk, 121 

composition of, 121 
Butter-nut, 171 



Cabango, food used at, 313 
Cabbage tribe, products of, 180-182 

red, 181 

white garden, 181 
Cacao butter, 235 
Caffeine, 221 
Cagliari paste, 154 
Cakes, 148 

Caladium seguinum, rhizomes of, 177 
Calorifacient group of alimentary princi- 
ples, 16 
Calorimeter, 31, 50, 61 
Cambridge system of training, 343 
Camel, 134 

its hump, 134 

its milk, 134 
Camembert cheese, composition of, 129 
Canna edulis, 215 
Cannibalism, 131 
Capraria biflora, 227 
Caramel, 210 
Carbohydrates, 67-82, 348 

amount in dietaries, 322 

assimilation and utilization of, 73 

conversion into fat, 78-81 
Carbon, amount of, required in food, 301 
Carbonic acid a measure of muscular work, 
62 

in the air, 10 
Carbuncles caused by eating diseased meat, 

101 
Cardoon, 184 
Carlina caulescens, 184 
Carlisle, Sir Anthony, on Arctic food, 280 
Carnivorous animals fed once a day, 326 
Carob tree, 207 

Carpenter, Dr. , on starvation, 325 
Carrageen moss, 183 

decoction of, 364 
Carrion eaten by the Zulus, 137 
Carrots, 177, 178 

composition of, 178 
Carya alba, 170 
Caseine, 18, 25, 86, 116, 118, 128 

vegetable, 19, 165 
Cashew nut, 171 
Cassava, 213, 214 

bread, 213 
Castanea vesca, 168 
Castration improves the animal for edible 

purposes, 90, 104 
Caterpillars, 140 
Catha edulis, 227 
Cats, 132 
Cauliflower, 181 
Caviare, 110 
Cavy, 134 
Celery, 183 
CeUulose, 72, 73 



390 



INDEX. 



Cerasus duracina, or common cherry, 196 

Ceratonia siliqua, 207 

Cerealia, 145-165 

Ceraline, 140 

Ceylon, food of the inhabitants of, 311 

Chaat, or Abyssinian tea, 227 

Chalazte of the egg, 114 

Champagnes, 251, 260 

Chard, the leaf -stalks of artichoke, 184 

Charqui, or dried beef, 271 

Chartreuse liqueur), 268 

Chateau d'Yquem (wine), 248, 259 

Cheddar cheese, composition of, 129 

Cheese, 128-180 

composition of, 129 

poisoning by, 130 
Ohenopodium quiuoa, 165 

leaves of, 182 
Cherry, 195, 196 

composition of, 196 
Cheshire cheese, 128 
Chester cheese, 128 

composition of, 129 
Chestnut, earth. 236 

Spanish, 168 
Chicken-tea, 860 
Chiccory, 231 
Children require food more frequently 

than grown-up persons, 329 
China, food of the inhabitants of, 310, 311 
Chitterlings, 96 

Chlorophyl, action of, in plants, 8, 9 
Chocolate, 234 
Chondrine, 19, 54 
Chondrus crispus. 182 

Chossat's experiments on death from star- 
vation. 323 
Christison, Sir K. , on unwholesome meat, 
101, 102 

on the laxative action of oatmeal, 158 

on poisoning by darnel grass, 155 

on test) of poisonous fungi, 188 
Chromic acid test for alcohol, 82 
Chrysalis of the silk-worm, 140 
Chyme, the product of gastric digestion, 

Cicada, an insect eaten by Greeks, 140 

Cichorium endiva, 185 
intybus, 231 

Cider, 192, 243 

Citric acid, 82 

Citron, 194 

Citrus acida, or lime, 194 

aurantium, or orange, 193 
decumana, or shaddock, 194 
limetta, or sweet lime, 194 
limonium, or lemon, 194 
medica, or citron, 194 
pompelmoos, or pomelo, 194 
vulgaris, or Seville oranges, 194 

Claret wines, 259, 260 

action of, on the human body, 84, 85 

Clark's process for the purification of 
water, 220 

Clay eaten in Africa, 141 



Climate, variety of diet required according 

to difference of, 279 
Cob-nut, 171 
Coca, 236 
Cocaine, 221, 236 

Cochlearia oflB.cinalis et Danica, 305 
Cockatoos, 137 
Cockles, 113 
Cocoa, 238-236 

composition of, 235 

fictitious, 236 

Brazilian, or guarana, 231 
Cocoa-nut, 170 

value of, as food, 308, 311, 313 
Cocos nucifera, 170 
Cod fish, 107 

sounds, 109 
Coffee, 227-231 

composition of, 229 

fictitious, 231 

Swedish, 231 

leaves, infusion made from, 226 
Cold, or catarrh, dry treatment for cure 
of, 852 

as a sharpener of the appetite, 289 

influence of, in preservmg food, 270 
Cole wort, 181 
Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, dietary at, 

386 
Colostrum. 118 
Combe. Dr. , on the food of the monks of 

La Trappe, 326 
Condiments, 268 
Cones, or cones flour, 148 
Constantia wine, 265 

Constipation removed by brown bread, 153 
Convolvulus batatas, 175 
Cooking, effects of, 831 

pot, 385 
Cooper, London, 242 
Cormorant, 137 
Corn, pop, 161 

lob, or maize-porridge, 161 

flour, 161 
Cornaro's limited diet. 299 
Corpulency, diet for the reduction of, 349- 

351 
"Correlation," Grove's definition of, 1 
Corvisart's, Lucieu, views as to the action 

of the pancreas, 22 
Corylus avellana, tubulosa, and grandis, 

171 
Cossus of the ancients, 140 
Couscous, or couscousou of the Arabs, 154 
Crab (fish). 111 
Crab-apple, 192 
Cracknels, 153 
Crake, spotted, 137 
Cramba maritima, 184 
Cranberry, 200 
Crane, 137 
Crawfish, river or fresh-water, 111 

sea. 111 
Cream, 119, 120 

composition of, 120 



INDEX. 



391 



Cream, Devonshire or clotted, 121 

cheese, 128 

of tartar whey, 364 

drink, 364 
Creamometer or lactometer, 124 
Cress, garden, 185 
Crimping- of fish, 107 
Crocodile, 188 

eggs of, 138 
Crumpets, 153 
Cuckoo. 137 
Cucumber, 186 
Cucumis citrullus, or water-melon, 204 

melo, or melon, 204 

sativus, or cucumber, 186 
Cucurbita ovifera, pepo and melo-pepo, 

186 
CuraQoa, 194, 268 
Curcuma angustifolia, 214 
Curd, 121 
Currants, dried, 199 

red and black, 201 

composition of, 201 
Cuttle-fish, 141 
Cycas, seeds of, 168 
Cydonia vulgaris, 193 
Cynara carduncellus, 184 

scolymus, 184 
Cynips, fat in the larva of, 80 
Cyperus esculentus, or earth chestnut, 236 
Cysticercus cellulosse, 98 
Cyttaria Darwinii, 189 



Dahomey, food of the inhabitants of, 312 

Daisy, leaves of, 185 

Damson, 195 

Dandelion, leaves of the, 185 

root of the, 232 
Darnel grass, 155 
Date, 197, 312 

plum, 207 
Daucus carota, 177 
Dauglish's, Dr., process of bread-making, 

150, 151 
Davy, Dr , on the value of fish as food, 

106, 108 
Deccan, food in the, 311 
Dextrine (an artificial gum), 63, 72 
Dewberry, or gray bramble, 203 
Dhurra, or Dhoora grass. 164 
Diabetes mellitus, sugar and urea in, 76 

diet for, 851 
Dicotyles labiatus and torquatus, 136 
Dietaries, hospital, 321, 366-386 

prison, 294-298, 815 

workhouse, 294 

subsistence diet, 292 

diet for training, 839-343 

diet of infants. 836-339 

diet of adult in full health, 292 

diet of active laborers, 292 

diet of hard-working laborers, 293 

diet of the English soldier, 293, 294 

diet of the English sailor, 294 



Dietetic preparations for the invalid, 359- 

365 
Dietetics, principles of, 274-303 

practical, 304-348 

therapeutic, 344-386 
Digestion, nature of, 20 

states inrtu^ncing, 331 

of nitrogenous matter in the intestine, 
24 
Digestive organs of infants, 336 
Dinner, 327, 828, 880 
Dioscjrea sativa. alata, and batatas, 176 
Diospyros kaki, 207 

Virginiana, 207 
Dirt-eating, 141, 142 
Dogs, 182 
Dog-fish, 139 
Dolichos (a pulse), 168 
Donders on the feeding of the Arab's horse, 

286 
Donkeys, 136 

Doura, the chief food in Egypt, 312 
Draper's experiments on vegetable life, 9 
Drink included in food, 15, 16 
Druitt, Dr., on the stimulating qualities 

of liquid essence of beef, 319 
Drying, preservation of food by, 271 
Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica, 215 
Dublin hospitals' dietary, 381, 382 
Ducks, experiments in the fattening of, 78 
Dugong, Indian, 183 

Dumas on the production of fatty matter, 
7,76 

experiments on bees, 76 
Duodenum, action of the, in digestion, 23 
Dupre's, Dr., experiments on the action of 

alcohol, 84, 85 
Duroy's observations on alcohol, 83 
Dutch cheese, 128 

composition of, 129 
Dynamic relations of food, 1-6 
Dysentery, diet for, 359 
Dyspepsia, food for, 355-359 



Earth-eating, 141, 142 

Echmus sphgera, 141 

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary dietary, 379, 

380 
Edwards', Milne, experiments on bees, 76 
Eels, 106 

composition of, 107 
Eel, mud, 139 
Egg, 113-115 

composition of the entire contents, 
87, 88, 113 

composition of the white, 114 

composition of the yolk, 114 

composition of the dry constituents, 
114 

as a typical illustration of natural 
food, 274 

and brandy, 362 
Egg-apple, 186 
Egypt, food in, 311, 312 



392 



INDEX. 



Elderberry, 201 
Elder rob, 201 

wine, 201 
Elephant, 186 

its foot, trunk, and tongue, 136 
Elk, 134 

Embden groats, 156 
Emulsin, 169 
Endive, 185 
Energy, actual and potential, 2 

conservation of, 2 

and force, distinction between, 2 
Entrails of animals eaten, 137 
Ergotized or spurred-corn, 155, 160 
Ervalenta, 168, 215 
Ervum lens, 167, 215 
Erythroxylon coca, 222, 236 
Esquimaux, food of, 290, 304 



Faba vulgaris, 166 
Fagopyrum esculentum, 164 
Fagots, 97 
Farinaceous preparations, 212-215 

seeds, 144-168 
Fasting girl, Welsh, 324 
Fat in relation to muscular force-produc- 
tion, 61-64 

actual force-value of, 65-67 

uses of, 58-60 

as a heat-producing agent, 59-61, 81, 
286 

amount required in diet, 322 

insufficient to sustain life, 278 

nitrogenous matter as a source of, 52- 
54 

conversion of carbohydrates into, 78- 
81 
Fats, or hydrocarbons, 56-67 
Fatty degeneration, explanation of, 52 

matter as an alimentary agent, 347 
Faulhorn, ascent of, by Fick and Wisli- 

cenus, 29, 65, 281 
Feaberry, or gooseberry, 200 
Feejee Islands, food of the inhabitants of, 

309 
Fern, root of, 180 
Festuca, 164 
Fibrine, 18, 25 

insufficient to sustain life, 275 

vegetable. 19 
Fick and Wislicenus on the origin of mus- 
cular power, 28-49, 64 
Ficus carica, or common fig, 204 
Fig, common, 204 

Indian, 205 

key, of Japan, 207 
Filbert, 171 

Filtration of water, 220 
Fish, 1C4-110 

composition of white, 106 

boiling of, 333 

dried and ground into powder in Sibe- 
ria. 105 

prejudice against, 105 



Fish, healthiness of the fish-eating class, 105 

edible qualities of, 108 

poisonous, 105 

shell, 110-113 
Fistulina hepatica, 189 
Flies, 140 

FHnt, Dr. Austin, on elimination of nitro- 
gen in relation to work, 37-39 
Flounder, 108 
Flour, wheaten, 147, 148 

composition of, 148 

value of unbolted, 88 

and milk, 362 
Fluid, regulation of amount of, 352, 353 
Fl-ammery, 157 
Foie gras, 96 

production of, 77 

composition of, 96 
Food, dynamic relations of, 1-6 

origmation of, 7-13 

constituent elements of, 14 

classification of, 17 

preservation of, 270-273 

mixture of animal and vegetable, the 
best for man. 303, 317 

proper proportion of fresh, necessary, 
316 

dietetic relations and effects of animal 
and vegetable compared, 289-319 

proper amount of. 319-326 

in relation to work, 284-287 

adaptation of, to demand, 279 

nutritive value of, 281 

force-producing value of, 282 

animal, stimulant properties of, 319 

evils caused by excess of, 323 

proper, of man, 304, 316 

for infants, Liebig's, 122, 159 
Foods eaten by inhabitants of various re- 
gions, 304-314 

animal, sometimes but not ordinarily 
eaten, 130-143 
Force, conservation of, 2 

neither created nor destroyed. 1 

and energy, distinction between, 2 
Fourcroy's discovery of adipocere, 52 
Fragaria coUina and vesca, 202 
Frankland's calculations of the force-pro- 
ducing value of various articles of 
food, 61, 66, 282-285, 288 

experiments on the amount of energy 
producible from nitrogenous mat- 
ter, 31, 50, 51 
Franklin, Sir John, 290 
Fremy's formula for pectine, 82 
Friendly Islands, food of the natives of 

the, 308 
Frogs. 139 

Fruit, preserved, 272 
Fruits, 190-206 
Frumenty, 147 
Frying, 334 
Fungi, growth of exceptional, 10 

esculent, 187-190 

composition of, 187 



INDEX. 



393 



Gages, green and purple, 195 

Game, 103, 104 

Gamgee's, Prof., report on the diseases of 

live stock, 100, 101 
Garraway, Thomas, ^23 
Gasparin on the action of coffee, 231 
Gastric juice, action of, 20 
Gelatine, 19, 54, 55, 95 

no existence in vegetable food, 7 

in the urine after injection into the 
vessels, 25 

question of its nutritive value, 276 

Commission of the Institute of Am- 
sterdam, 276, 277 

Paris Commission of the French Acad- 
emy on conclusions arrived at by, 
55, 275, 276 
Gelatinous principles, 19 

alimentarj^ value of, 54, 56 
*' Geophagie," or dirt-eating, 142 
Gherkins, 186 
Gilbert's observations on the feeding of 

cattle, 41, 53, -79, 318 
Gin, or Geneva, 267 
Ginger-bread, 153 
Ginseng root, 180 
Glasgow Koyal Infirmary dietary, 380, 

381 
Globuline, or albuminoid matter in the 

blood-corpuscle, 19 
Gloucester, double, cheese, 128 

single, cheese, 128 
Glucose, or grape-sugar, 69-71, 209, 210, 

211 
Gluten, 144, 146 

sustaining life, 276 
Glyceria, 164 
Glycerine, 56, 57 

Glycogen, or amyloid substance, 71 
Gmelin, 278 
Golden syrup, 210 
Goose, enlarged liver of the, 76, 95 
Gooseberry, 200 

composition of, 200 
Goose-grass, root of, 180 
Gout promoted by the consumption of a 

highly nitrogenized diet, 346 
Graham, 71 
Grape, 198, 199, 245-249 

composition of, 199 

American, young shoots of, 185 
Grasshoppers. 140 
Greengage, 195 
Greenland food, 102, 290, 305 
Greens, 181 
Groats, or grits, 156 
Grove's "Correlation of the Physical 

Forces," 1, 2 
Grubs, 140 

Gmel (oatmeal), 158, 217, 363 
Grnndlache's experiments on bees, 76 
Gruyere cheese, composition of, 129 
Guachos, food of the, 307 
Guarana, 221, 232, 233 

as a remedy for sick-headache, 233 



Guaranine identical with theine, 221-233 

Guava, 206 

Guinea-grass, 104 

Gull eaten during Lent, 137 

Gum, 71, 73 

insufficient to sustain life, 278 

water, 363 
Guy, Dv , on the diet of English prisons, 

315 
Guy's Hospital dietary, 321, 366 
Gyrophora, 183 



Haddock, 107 

Hanwell Lunatic Asylum, dietary at, 384, 

385 
Hare, 104 
Haricots, or French beans, 166 

blancs, 167 
Hashing, 334 
Hassall's analysis of Eevalenta, 215 

examination of milk, 123 
Hazel-nut. 171 
Head's, Sir Francis, experience of food in 

the Pampas, 307, 340 
Heart, 96 
Heat, equivalent of , in mechanical motion, 

2, 66 
Hedgehog, 132 
Helianthus tuberosus, 176 
Helmholtz's researches on energy, 2, 5 

on vegetable life, 9 

on the size of the sun, 8 
Herbaceous articles, 180-185 
Herring, 106 
Hickory-nut, 170 
Hindostan, food in, 311 
Hippophagy, 134 
Hippopotamus, 136 
Histogenetic or tissue -forming materials, 

16 
Hock (wine), 261 
Hoe cake, 161 
Hoffmann, H., 62 
Hog. earth, 136 
Hollands, 267 
Holothuriae, 141 
Hominy, 161 
Honey, 76, 89, 211 

poisonous effects of, 212 
Hops, young buds of, 184 
Hordeum distichon, 158 
Horse-flesh, 184-136, 307 
Horses, food of, 286 
Hospital dietaries, 366-386 
Hottentots, food of the, 313, 314 

gluttony of the, 289 
Huber's experiments on bees, 76 
Humus, 9, 12 

Hiinefeld on cheese-poisoning, 130 
Hurtleberry, 201 
Hydrates of carbon, or carbohydrates, 

67, 82 
Hydrocarbons, or fats, 56-67 



394 



INDEX. 



Iceland moss, 183 

decoction of, 863 
Icelanders, food of, 305, 306 
Ichthyophagi, 105 
Iguana, 188 
Ilex Paraguayensis, gongonha, and these- 

zans, 226 
Imperial (potus iinperialis), 364 
India, food in, 311 
Indians of New Spain, 806 

North American, 306 

Pampas, 307 
Indian tribes of the interior of Oregon, 
306 

corn, or maize, 161, 162 

sugar from, 209 

used for fattening geese, 77, 162 

composition of, 161 
Indigestion caused by food taken after 
unusual exertion, 829 

food for, 854-859 
Infants, diet of, 336-339 
Inorganic alimentary principles, 86-88 

matter essential to satisfy the require- 
ments of life, 279 
Inosite, or muscle -sugar, 70 
Inuline, 176 
Invalids, dietetic preparations for, 359- 

365 
Irish moss, 183, 363 
Isinglass, 110 
Italian or Cagliari paste, 154 



Jaggery, 209 

Jak fruit, 206 

Jakut?, food of the, 289, 306, 307 

Japan, food of the inhabitants of, 310 

Jatropha manihot, 218 

Jerboa, 184 

Jerome, St., on cannibalism, 131 

Jerusalem artichoke, 176 

composition of, 177 
Johnny cake, 161 

Jones, Dr. Bence, on the digestion of 
starch in the stomach, 6S 

on influence of food on the urine, 354 
Joule's researches on heat, 2, 66 
Juglans regia and cinerea, 170 
Juniper, berries and tops of, 806 
Juvia tree, 171 



Kaffirs, food of the, 313 
Kale, green, 184 

sea, 184 
Kalo, root of. 179 
Kalong, or edible roussette, 131 
Kangaroos, 182 

soup from the tail, 132 
Keith's, Mr. , case of poisoning by diseased 

meat, 100 
Ketchup, 187 
Kidney, 95 

composition of sheep's, 96 



Kidneys, eliminative office of, 353 

King's College Hospital dietary, 372, 873 

Kirschwasser, 199, 268 

Knol-kohl, 182 

Kohl-rabi, 182 

Kolyma, Lower, food in, 306 

Koumiss (a spirituous liquor from mare's 
milk). 118, 268 

Kous-kous of the Arabs, 154 

Kreutzer, Dr., on poisoning by unwhole- 
some meat, 101 

Kiimmel (a Kussian liqueur), 268 



Lacaze-Duthiers on the fat in the larva 

of the cynips, 80 

Lactic acid, 70, 78, 82 

Lactine, or sugar of milk, 71, 116, 208 

Lactometer, 124 

Lactoscope, 124 

Lactuca sativa. 185 

Lactucarium, or lettuce opium, 185 

Lallemaud's observations on alcohol, 83 

Lamb, 93 

Lamballe, Princess, 131 

Laminaria digilata and saccharina, 183 

Lamprey, 105 

Langham Hotel, hippophagic banquet at, 
135 

Larvae of ants, 140 

La Trappe, monks of, eat once a day only, 
826 

Laughter a help to digestion, 331 

Laver, 183 

Lawes and Gilbert, their observations on 
the feeding of animals, 41, 53, 79, 
318 

Ledum palustre and latifolium, 227 

Leeds General Infirmary dietary, 375, 376 

Lees of Wine, 251 

Legumine, 19, 165 

Leguminous seeds, 1 65-168 

Lehmann, 19, 47, 62, 81, 82, 277, 317 
on the action of coffee, 231 
view that fat assists digestion, 59 
on the gastric juice, 21 
on the absorption of gum, 72 
observations on the escape of nitrogen 

by the urine, 27, 28, 41, 42 
on peptone, 20 

experiments on sugar, 69, 71, 72, 73 
on the action of tea on the body, 226 

Lemon, 194 

peel tea, 365 

Lemonade, 365 

Lentils, 167 

composition of, 168 

Lepidium sativum, 185 

Lepidosireu, 139 

Leprosy common in Iceland, 305 

Letheby, table of analyses of foods, 291 
on the comparative costliness of food 

and fuel, 287 
on bread -making, 152 
on the strength of coffee, 230 



INDEX. 



395 



Letheby, on the characteristics of good 
meat, 97 
on the cooking of potatoes, 174 
on the use of sea-weeds, 183 
on the strength of tea, 22-4 
Lettuce, 185 
Leucine, 50 
Lexias, 199 
L'Heritier, his analysis of woman's milk, 

118 
Lichen, 183 
Lieben, M., 85 
Liebig, 7. 76, 79, 80, 284, 290 

table of the relative nutritive value 

of various articles of food, 281 
views regarding nitrogenized and non- 

nitrogenized principles, 16 
view that nitrogenous matter alone 
constitutes the source of muscular 
and nervous power, 26, 39-41, 52, 
281 
classification of fat as an element of 

respiration, 60 
on the value of saline matter in food, 

88 
food influencing the character of ani- 
mals, 319 
view of the destination of alcohol in 

the animal economy, 82 
discovery of ammonia in the atmos- 
phere, 11 
on the assimilation of sugar, 73 
his discovery of syntonine, 19 
beef-tea, 360 

extractum carnis, 319, 361 
food for infants, 122, 159, 339 
Life, results of animal and vegetable, 12, 

13 
Lights, pigs', 97 
Lignine, or woody fibre, 72 
Lime, common and sweet, 194 

phosphate of, in the animal body, 86 
water used in bread-making, 152 
Limpets, 113 

Lindsay, of Pitscottie, on cannibalism, 131 
Linseed-tea, 363 
Lion eaten in Africa, 132 
Liqueurs, 268 
Lisbon wine, 263 
Lithospermum maritimum, 186 
Liver, 95 

composition of calves' liver and of foie 

gras, 95, 96 
fatted, of the goose, 77, 96 
relation to sugar-formation, 73 
Livingstone, Dr., on the relative strength 
of grain-eaters and beef-eaters, 341 
notice of carbuncle caused by eating 
diseased animals, 101 
Lizards, 138 
Llama, 134 
Lobster, 110 

composition of the edible portions, 110 
thorny, or sea-crawfish, 111 
Locusts, 140 



Lolium temulentem, 155 

Loudon Hospital dietary, 868, 369 

Lotus edulis, 168 

Love-apple, 186 

Luncheon should form a substantial meal, 

327 
Lungs of animals (lights), 97 
Lupine, Egyptian, white, 168 
Lynx, Canadian, 132 



Macaroni, 154 

INtackerel, 106 

Maclaren on training, 341 

Madeira wine, 264 

Magendie, his food experiments on dogs, 
88, 278 
conclusion of the Gelatine Commission 
of the French Academy, 55 

Mahomed's, Mr., results on the elimina- 
tion of urea, 43-47 

Maize, or Indian corn, 161, 162 
sugar from, 210 

used for fattening geese, 77, 162 
composition of, 162 

Maizena, 161 

Malic acid, 82 

Mallow, leaves of, 182 

Malmsey wine, 265 

Malt, 159 

Manatee, or sea-cow, 133 

Manchester Royal Infirmary and Dispen- 
sary dietary, 376, 377 

Mangifera Indica, 206 

Mango, 206 

Mangel-wurzel, 179 

Manihot utilissima, 213 

Manna. 212 
Polish, 164 
croup, 154, 164 
grass, 164 

Mannite, 212 

Mantell's case of extraordinary prolonga- 
tion of life in a fat animal under 
absence of food, 58 

Maple, sugar from, 210 

Marangaba, 206 

Maranta arundinacea, 214 

Marasca cherry, 196 

Marasquin, 196 

Maraschino, 196, 268 

Marcet, Dr., 57 

Margarine, 57 

Mark, or residue of wine, 249 

Marmalade, quince, 193 

Marmelo, 193 

Marmot, 134 

Marsala wine, 264 

Mate, or Paraguay tea, 226 

Matlametlo (a large frog), 139 

Mavor, Dr. Wm., on the fattening of 
ducks, 79 

Mayer's doctrine of the conservation of 
force, 2 

Mead, or metheglin, 265 



396 



INDEX. 



Meals, best times for, 327-331 
Meat, 89-108 

when the various kinds are in season, 
90 

effect of the food eaten by animals 
upon the charactei of, 91 

effect of the mode of slaughtering 
upon, 91 

over-estimation of its dietetic value, 
315 

raw, 305, 312 

cooked, composition of, 92 

loss by boiling, baking, and roasting, 
333 

putrid flesh eaten by various nations, 
102 

unwholesome, 97-103 

solid extracts of, 362 

fluid, 357, 3(52 

lozenges, 362 

preserving establishments in Austra- 
lia, 272, 273 
Mechanical work from fuel less costly 

than from food, 287 
Medlar, 193 
Melon, 204 

Mercurialis annua, leaves of, 182 
Mespilus germanica, 193 
Mexico, food in, 306 
Mialhe on albuminose, 20 

on oxidation of sugar, 81 
Mice, 133 

Middlesex Hospital dietarv, 370, 371 
Milk, 87, 115-126 

composition of cow's, 117 

solid constituents of, 117 

composition of the, of various ani- 
mals, 117 

estimation of the quality of, 123-126 

specific gravity, 123 

the proper food of infants, 336 

as a typical illustration of natural 
food, 274 

blue, poisonous effects of, 119 

butter, 121 

butter, composition of, 121 

concentrated, 273 

condensed, 122, 338 

condensed, composition of, 122 

skimmed, 121 

skimmed, composition of, 121 

sugar of, 70 

and suet, 362 
Millet, 164 

Indian, 164 
Milt, 97 

Mineral matter in food, 12, 13, 86 
Misos (small beans), 168 
Molasses, 145, 209 
Moleschott's model diet, 287, 288, 301, 320, 

322 
Monkeys, 131 
Morchella esculenta, 189 
Morel, common, 189 
Morello cherry, 195 



Morus nigra, 197 

Mosler, Prof., on the poisonous effects of 

blue milk, 119 
Moths, 140 

Mountain meal (a kind of earth), 141 
Muffins, 153 
Mulberry, 204 

composition of, 203 
Mulder' s analysis of albumen, 39, 48 

discoveries relating to albuminous 
compounds, 7 

on the acids in humus, 12 

discovery of proteine, 18 
Mules, 135 
Musa paradisiaca, or plantain, 305 

sapientum, or banana, 305 
Muscarin, 188, 189 
Muscatel raisins, 199 
Muscle-sugar, 70 
Muscovado, or raw sugar, 209 
Muscular action, according to Liebig, de- 
stroys muscular tissue, 39 
Mush, or Indian-corn porridge, 161 
Mushrooms, 187-190 
Musk ox, 134 
Mussels, 112 

composition of, 113 
Must of the grape, 249 
Mustard, white, 185 
Mutton, 92 

composition of, 93 

tea, 361 
Mylittus Australis, 188 
Myosine, 19 



Narwhal, 113, 304 

Nasturtium officinale, 185 

Nectarine, 197 

Neufchatel cheese, composition of, 129 

New Caledonia, food of the inhabitants 

of, 309 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Infirmary dietary, 

378, 379 
Newtown pippin, 192 
New Zealand, food of the natives of, 308, 

309 
Nitrogen an element of vegetable as well 
as animal life, 12 

amount of, required in food, 301 

elimination of. 26 
Nitrogenized diet, effect of, 345 
Nitrogenous alimentary principles, 17-55 

non-alimentary principles, 56-86 

matter, dietetic value of, 285, 321 
Normandy pippins, 192 
Norwegian nest, 335, 360 
Noyaux, eau de, 197, 268 
Nubia, food of the Arabs in, 312 



Oats, 156-159 

composition of, 157 
Oatmeal, 156 

composition of, 157 



INDEX. 



397 



Oatmeal porridge, 156, 158, 362 

grael, 158, 317, 363 
(Enanthic ether, 358 
Olea EuropEea, 197 
Oleaginous seeds, 233-337 
Oleine, 57 
Olive. 197 
Onion, 184 
Opossum, 132 

Opuntia vulgaris, or prickly pear, 204 
Orache, garden, 183 
Orange, 193, 194 

OrceUa, or vegetable sweetbread, 189 
Organic compounds, formation of, 13 

transformation of one into another in 
the animal body, 7, 8 
Orgeat, 363 
Omithogalum pyrenaicum, flower-stalks 

of, 184 
Orobus tuberosus, 177 
Orycteropus Capensis, 136 
Oryza sativa, 163 
Osmazome, or flavoring principle of meat, 

90, 385 
Ostrich, 137 
Oswego flour, 161 

Otaheite, food of the inhabitants of, 309 
Otter, 132 

Oxalis crenata and tuberosa, 177 
Oxford system of traming, 342 
Oxycoccus macrocarpus and palustris, 200 
Oyster-plant, or salsify, 179 

or lithospermum maritimum, 185 
Oysters, 112 ^ 

composition of, 113 Jf 

Paddy-fields, 163 
Palm, fan. 309 
wine, 368 
Palmitine, 57 
Palms, sugar from, 309 
Pampas Indians, food of, 307 
Panada, 359 
Panax, 179 

Pancreatic juice, action of, 23-24 
Panicam miliaceum and jumentorum, 163 
Pappenheim on the action of the pan- 
creas, 22 
Paraguaine, identical with theine, 221, 

226 
Parasites in meat, 97 
Pavfait amour (liqueur), 268 
Parkes' analytical representations of foods, 
290, 295 
observations on the elimination of ni- 
trogen, 37, 38, 31-36, 43, 65 
on the nitrogen and carbon in the typi- 
cal alimentary principles. 302 
on the action of alcohol on the human 

body, 84, 337-340 
on the oxidation of fat, 350 
Parmesan cheese, 138 

composition of, 129 
Parrots, 137 



Parrot-fish, 139 

Parry, Sir W., on the large amount of 

food eaten by the Esquimaux, 289 
Parsnip, 178, 179 

composition of, 178 
Pasquii's '' Palinodia," 344 
Passover cakes, 154 
Pastinaca sativa, 178 
Pastry, 147 
Paullinia sorbilis, 231 

Payen's table of the percentage value of 
food in nitrogen and carbon, 300, 301 

on the keeping of butter, 127 

on the dietetic value of coffee, 231 

on vegetarianism, 314 ' 

on sugar as a constituent of wheaten- 
flour, 146 
Pea, sugar, 166 

sea, 167 
Peas, 166, 167 

composition of dried, 167 
Peach, 197, 198 

composition of, 198 
Peach-nut oil, 170 
Pear. 193 

composition of, 193 

prickly, 204 
Peafowl, 137 
Pecari, collared, 135 
Pectine, 30, 83 
Pelican, 137 
Pemmican, 271 
Penguin, 137 
Penicillium oidium (the mould of bread), 

156 
Pepsine, 115 

a neutral nitrogenized principle, 21 
Peptone, or albuminose, 20 
Pereira on alum in bread, 151 

on the action of coffee, 231 
Periwinkles, 113 

Perrin's observations on alcohol, 83 
Perry, 193, 343, 344 
Persimmon tree, 307 
Persoz on the production of fatty matter 

from the carbohydrates, 77 
Pettenkofer, 317 

experiments on the elimination of car- 
bonic acid, 63 
Phaseolus vulgaris and multiflorus, 163 
Phlomis tuberosa, 177 
Phoenix dactj^lifera, 197 
Phosphorus in fibrin and albumen, 12 
Phytolacca decandia, 185 
Pickling, 335 

Pig in a restless state not adapted for 
fattening, 348 

experiments on the fattening of, 78, 
79 
Pigeon, 104 
Pilchard, 106 
Pine, Chilian, 206 
Pineapple, 204 
Piophila casei. 130 
Pipperidge, or piprage bush, 300 



398 



INDEX. 



Pistacliio nut, 172 

Pisum arveuse and sativum, 166 

Pitcher-plant, 10 

Plantain, 205 

Plants, absorption x)f carbon, 10, 11 

and animals, reciprocal relation of, 
13 
Play fair's dietaries, 390, 291-294, 298 

subsistence diet, 291, 321 

experiments on fat, 79 

on the elimination of urea, 61 
Plum, 195, 19(5 

composition of, 196 
Poa tiuitans, 104 
Poi (a paste made from the root of the 

kalo), ISO 
Poke, common, young shoots of, 185 
Polenta, or porridge of Indian corn, 161 

or maize-meal, 161 
Pomegranate, 194 
Pomelo, 195 
Pompelmoose, 194 
Pondweed, rhizomes of, 177 
Pone, or maize cake, 161 
Pop-corn, 161 
Porcupine, 132 
Pork, 94 

composition of, 94 

measly, 97 
Porphjra vulgaris and laciniata, 182 
Porpoise, 69 

Porridge, oatmeal, 156, 158, 362 
Port wine, 262-264 
Porter, 240-243 
Posset, 364 

Potamogeton uatans, rhizomes of, 177 
Potato, sweet, 172, 175, 176 

composition of, 176 
Potatoes, 172-176 

composition of, 173 
Poteutilla anseriua, root of, 180 
Poultry, game, and wild-lowl, 102-105 
Prawns, 111 
Prickly pear, 205 
Prison, Scotch, dietaries, 315 
Proteine compounds, 18, 19 
Prout's classification of food, 17 

case of mutton acting as a poison, 93 
Prunes, 195 
Prunus armeniaca, 197 

domestica, or common plum, 195 

insititia, or bullace, 195 

spinosa, or wild sloe. 195 
Psidium cattleyanum. pomiferum pyg- 

masum and pyriferum, 206 
Psoralea glaudulos.v, 226 
Puddings, flour, 147 
Pulled bread, 153 

Pulque (an intoxicating liquor), 306 
Pulse tribe, 165-168 
Pumpkin, 186 
Put.ica gran at a. 194 

Purkinjo on the action of the pancreas, 23 
Pyrus communis, or pear, 192 

cydonia, or quince, 193 



Pyrus domestica, or service, 193 
malus, or apple, 193 



Quince, 193 
Quinoa, 165 

analysis of, 165 



Rabbit, 104 

Radishes, 179 

Ragi (chief food in the Deccan), 311 

Raisins, 199 

Rana bombina, 139 

esculenta and taurina, 139 
Ranke's analysis of cooked meat, 91, 

92 
Rape. 185 

Raphanus sativus, 179 
Raspberr}^ 202 

composition of, 203 
Rats, 133 

Savory's experiments on, 276, 318 
Reindeer, 134, 305 
Reine Claude, or greengage, 195 
Rennet, 116, 128 
Revalenta Arabica, 168, 215 
"Revet" wheat, 147 
Rheum hybiidum, palmatum. and rhapon- 

ticum, 182 
Rhine wines, 261 
Rhinoceros, 136 
Rhone wines, 259 
Rhubarb, J 82 

Ribes grossularia, or gooseberry, 199 
nigrum, or black currant, 200 
rubrum, or red currant, 200 
Rice, 162-164 

composition of, 163 
w^ater, 363 
Riche on the fat in the larva of the cy- 

nips, 80 
Richmond, Whitw^orth, and Hardwicke 

Hospitals dietary, 381, 382 
Ringer, Dr. Sidney, on elimination of 

urea and sugar in diabetes, 75 
Roasting, 334 

Roberts, Dr., on the urine after food, 354 
Robur, or tea-spirit, 268 
Roe of fish, 109 
Roots, 177-180 

Roquefort cheese, composition of, 129 
Ross, Sir John, on the large amount of 

food eaten by the Esquimaux, 289 
Roussette, edible, 131 
Roussillon (wine), 260 
Roux, E. , on the action of coffee, 230 
Rubus arcticus, or northern raspberry, 
203 
cossius, or dewberry, 203 
fruticosus, or blackberry, 203 
id;v.us, or raspberry, 202 
procumbens, or dewberry of North 
America, 203 
Rum, 267 



INDEX. 



399 



Rum, pineapple, 267 
Runiex acetosa. 182 
Runnmg, its place in training systems, 

889 
Rusks, 153, inO 
Rust, or .smut of wheat, 155 
Rye, 159, UiO 

composition of, IGO 



Saccharine preparations, 208-212 
Sack, 244, 264 
Sago, 213 

bread, 213 
Sahara, dates the chief food in the Fezzan 

oases of, 312 
St. Bartholomew's Hospital dietary, 867 
St. George's Hospital dietary, 869, 370 
St, John's bread, 206 
St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics, dietary 

at, 888 
St. Mary's Hospital dietary, 373, 374 
St. Peray wine, 260 
St. Thomas's Hospital dietary, 368 
Sale p. 215 

Otaheite, 214 
Saline matter, 86 
Salmon, 105, 109 

composition of, 106 

putrid, eaten by the Indian tribes of 
Oregon. 806 
Salsify, 179 

stalks of. 184 
Salting diminishes the nutritive value of 
meat. 278 

pickling, a ad smoking, 336 
Sambucus nigra, 201 
Samp, 161 
Sandwich Islands, food of the inhabitants 

of, 309 
Saturan, a drink of Siberia, 305 
Sauer-kraut, 181 
Sausages, German. 99 
Saussure on carbonic acid in the air, 10 
Savory's experiments on the feeding of 

rats. 276-278, 818 
Savoy cabbage, 181 
Savu, food of the inhabitants of, 309 
.Saw-dust. 207 
Scallops, 113 
Scarabteus sacer, 139 
Scarlet-runner, 166 
Scarus, or parrot-fish, 139 
Scharling, 62 
Scherer, 70 
Schiedam, 267 

Schmidt's experiment on the solvent in- 
fluence of the intestinal juice, 21 

on the amount of urea, 41 
Schmiedeberg on the action of muscarin, 

18S 
Scurvy common in Iceland, 305 

potatoes a preventive of, 174 
Sea-cucumbers, 141 
Sea-girdle, 183 



Sea-kale, 184 

Sea-urchin, or sea-egg, 141 
Sea- weed, 182 
Seal, 182, 188, 304, 305 
Seamen's Hospital dietary, 375 
Secale cereale, or rye, 159 
Secretions, nitrogenous matter essential 
to the constitution of, 26 

effect of tne. 22 
Seeds, or flummery, 156 
Semolina, 154 
Semoule, 154 
Service, 193 
Seville orange, 194 
Shaddock, 195 
Sharks. 189 

fins, 140 

edible, 139 
Shea, or African butter tree, 208 
Shell-fish, IIU-IIH 
Sherry, 244, 268, 264 

Hambro', 261 
Shrimps, 114 
Siberia, food in, 104, 306 
Simon's, Mr., report on diseased meat, 

100 
Simpson, Sir George, on the large amount 

of food eaten by the Yakuti, 289 
Sinapis alba, 185 
Sinclair, Sir John, on training, 340, 342 

on the reduction of corpulency, 349 
Skunk, Hudson's Bay, 131 
Sleep after dinner, 880 
Sloe, wild, 195 
Sloths, 187 

Slugs eaten in China, 141 
Smallage, 183 

Smith, Dr. E. , on the food of Scotch agri- 
cultural laborers, 315 

experiments on alcohol. 82 

on the nutritive material extracted 
from bone. 95 

experiments on the elimination of car- 
bonic acid, 28, 62 

on the consumption of potatoes by the 
Irish, 172 

on the comparative weights of tea, 
224 

on the action of tea on the body, 226 
Smoothhound, or mustellus antarcticus, 

139 
Smut of wheat, 155 
Snail, vineyard, 140 

common garden, 141 
Snakes, 138 
Snowberry, 200 
Solanine. 174 
Solanum Ivcopersicuih and melongena, 186 

tuberosum, 172 
Sole, 106 

Somersetshire cheese. 128 
Sorbus domestica, 193 
Sorgho grass, or sorghum, 164 
Sorghum saccharatum, 210 
Sorrel, 182 



400 



INDEX. 



Soujee, 154 

Soup, bisque, 111 

Soups and broths, 335 

Sowans, 157 

Spawning of fish, 108 

Spaying improves the animal for edible 

purposes, 90, 104 
Spiders, 189 
Spinacea oleraeea, 183 
Spinach, 182 

mountain, 183 
Spirits, 265-268 
Spleen, 97 

Sporendonema casei, 130 
Sprat, 106 

Squarey on the action of coffee, 330 
Squash, 186 
Squirrel, 133 
Stags, 135 
Starch, 67-69, 212 

insufficient to sustain life, 277 

from potato, 173 
Starchy matter as a constituent of food, 

347 
Starvation, 323 
Stearine, 57 
Stenhouse's researches ontheine, 231, 333, 

232, 235 
Stewing, 334 
Stilton cheese, 128 
Stirabout, or porridge, 157 
Stout, 240, 242 
Strasburg f oie gras, 77 
Strawberry, 201 

composition of, 201 
Sturgeon, 105, 108 
Sucan, or flummery, 156 
Succotash, 161 . 
Suffolk cheese, 128 
Sugar, 207-210 

insufficient to sustain life, 277 

its efficacy in producing fatness, 348 

assimilation of, 72-76 

oxidation of, in the animal system, 80 

eating by the negroes, 348 

in wine, 253 

beet, 209 

cane, 68-70, 208-310 

its conversion into grape-sugar, 68 

grape, 69-71, 308, 310, 311, 347 

maize, 209 

maple, 209 

muscle, 70 

of milk, 70 

candy, 210 
Sulphur in caseine, fibrine, and albumen, 

12 
Sultanas, 199 

Sun, colored rays of, influence on vegeta- 
tion, 9 

influence of the solar force, 3, 7-9 
Suppers, late, unwholesome, 328 
Swans, 137 
Sweetbread, 96 
Sweet-wort, 159 



Sword-fish, 139 

Syntonine, or muscle-fibrine, 19 



Tacca oceanica, 214 
Taenia solium, 97 

medio-canellata, 97 
Tajacu, or collared pecari, 136 
Tamarind, 205-206 
Tamarind whey, 364 
Tanaampo (thin cake of earthy matter), 

141 
Tanna, food of the inhabitants of, 309 
Tannese (cannibals), 131 
Tannic acid, 223, 247, 254 
Tapeworm, source of, 97 
Tapioca, 314 
Tapir, 136 

Tarragona, or Spanish port, 364 
Tartaric acid, 82 
Tea, 223-226 

composition of, 224 

black, 222 

brick, 222 

green, 333 

lie, 323 

representatives of, 336-328 

Abyssinian, 228 

Brazilian, 226 

Labrador, 228 

Mexican, 226 

Paraguay, 226 

one of the daily meals, 338 
Tent, Rota, 264 

Thea bohea, viridis, and sasangua, 333 
Theine, 321, 223, 235 
Theobroma cacao, 233 
Theobromine, 221, 235 
Therapeutic dietetics, 344-386 
Thirst, 320 
Thistle, carline, 183 

Thompson, Dr. Dundas, on the intoxica- 
ting effect of meat, 319 

Dr. J. B., on Scotch prison dietary, 
315 
Tiedemann, 377 
Times of eating, 336-329 
Tissues, development and renovation of, 

35 
Toads, 139 
Toadstools, 187 
Toast, 153, 153 

and water, 230, 365 
Toddy, or palm wine, 368 
Tokay, 361 
Tomato, 186 

Tope, or galeus canis, 139 
Tops and bottoms, 153 
Tortilla (a cake made of maize-meal), 161, 

307 
Tortoise, 138 
Torula cerevisiee, 150 
Toucans, 137 
Tous-les-mois, 315 
Tragopogon porrifolius, 179 



rfTDEX. 



401 



Training, diet for, 339-343 

Traube on tlie non-nitrogenous principles 
and force-production, 284 
view of the source of muscular and 
nervous power, 26, 62 

Treacle, 210 
whey, 364 

Trefoil. 805 

Trichina spiralis in the pig and other ani- 
mals, 98 

Trionyx ferox, 138 

Tripe, 96 

composition of, 96 
de roche, 183 

Tropoeolum tuberosum, 177 

Trout, 109 

Trutiies, 189, 190 

Tubers and roots, 172-180 

Tufnell's treatment of aneurism, 353 

Tiill's, ilr., operation of castration and 
spaying fish, 108 

Tunicine or animal cellulose, 73 

Turbot, 108 

Turnip, 179 

composition of, 179 
cabbage, 182 

Turtle, marine and fresh- water, 138 

Typha, young shoots of, 184 

Typhoid fever caused by polluted milk, 
120 



Ubomi, 137 
TJlIucus tuberosus, 177 
Ulva latissima, 182 

University College Hospital dietary, 372 
Urea the unutQizable portion of nitrogen- 
ous matter, 48, 49 
elimination of, 41, 42-46, 285 
not a measure of muscular work, 62 
Urine, passing off of nitrogen by the, 27 
influence of different foods on, 318, 

353-355 
albumen, caseine, and gelatine in, 24, 
25 



VaccinIum myitillis, or bilberry, 200 
oxycoccus, or cranberry, 200 
uliginosum, or bog whortleberry, 200 
vistis idaja, or red whortleberry, 200 

Veal, 91, 93 

composition of, 93 
tea, 361 

Vegetable alimentary substances, 144-215 
food, effects of, 358, 359 
life, action of, 9-11 
marrow, 186 

Vegetables, cooking of, 331 
preserved, 271 

Vegetarians, 314, 315 

Venison, 95 

Venus's fly-trap, 10 

Verjuice, 192 

Vermicelli, 154 



Vetch, tuberous bitter. 177 

Vierordt on the elimination of carbonic 

acid, 62 
Villi, the organs through the agency of 

which fat is absorbed, 57, 58 
Virchow on fatty degeneration, 52 
Vital principle, 3 
Vitality, dormant, 5 
Vitelline, or albumen in the yolk of the 

egg, 19, 114 
Vitis vinifera, 197 
Voit, 317 

experiments on the elimination of car- 
bonic acid, 63 
on the elimination of nitrogen, 29, 36 
on the nutritive value of gelatine, 55 



Wallabies, 133 

Walnut, 171 

Walrus, 133, 304 

Wamrima, or East African Coast clans, 

312 
Warori, food of the, 312 
Warren's, Captain, cooking-pot, 335 
Water, 86, 216-221 

needed beyond that in food, 323 

distilled, 218 

rain, 217 

river, 218 

spring, 217 

well or pump, 217 

unwholesome, 219 

purification of, 220 
Water-cress, 185 

Weevil, a wheat-eating insect, 155 
West, Dr., on the feeding of infants. 336 
Westminster Hospital dietary, 374, 3T5 
Weston's walking feats and elimination of 

nitrogen, 37-39 
Westrumb on cheese-poisoning, 130 
Wet nurse, selection of, 337 
W^ale, 133 

Wharton's Ervalenta, 215 
Wheat, 145-156 

composition of, 144 

unwholesome, 155, 156 
Whelks, 113 
Whey, 121, 364 
Whiskey, 267 
Whiting, 107 
Whortleberry, 200 
Wild-fowl, 104 
Windsor, or broad bean, 166 
Wine, 244-255 
Wines, Australian. 262 

Cape, or South African, 264, 265 

French, 259-261 

fruit, 265 

German, 261 

Greek, 262 

Hungarian, 261 

Italian, 262 

Portuguese, 262-264 

SicHian, 264, 265 



402 



INDEX. 



Wines, Spanish, 383, 264 

Wisliceuns on the origin of muscular 

power, 28-31, 64, 281 
Witheringia montana, 177 
Wohler, 62 
Wollowicz, Count, on the action of alcohol 

on the human body, 84 
Wolves, 132 
Wombat, 132 
Wood, Thomas, small amount of food 

taken by, 298 
Woody fibre, 72, 207 
Wyntoun, Andrew, on cannibalism, 131 



Xema ridibunda, 131 



Yaktjti, gluttony of the, 289 

Yam, 176 

Yeast, 149 

Yutien (an early tea), 222 



Zea curagua, or Chilian maize, 161 

mays, or Indian corn, 161 
Zenker, Prof., 98 



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